Morrissey‘s autobiography has become the fast-selling memoir from the pen of a musician since records began in the UK, reports Billboard.
Morrissey: Autobiography has sold 34,918 copies on paperback since its release earlier this month – the highest first week total for any musician since such statistics began to be recorded, bettering the previous best-ever total of 28,213, which was claimed by Keith Richards and his own autobiography Life in October 2010.
In typical Morrissey fashion, a ‘content dispute’ between himself and Penguin appears to have been resolved by having his publishers release the book through its Classics arm, which is normally reserved for authors such as Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde.
The dispute looked to have to put the memoir’s release in doubt when the original September unveiling was abruptly pulled, but soon after a statement was issued to fansite True To You which cleared up the argument, declaring:
“This is a deal for the UK and Europe, but Morrissey has no contract with a publisher for the US or any other territory,” the statement read. “As of September 13, Morrissey and Penguin (UK) remain determined to publish within the next few weeks.”