Jimmy Barnes memoir a #1 best-seller

After reaching the top spot on the music charts for four decades, Jimmy Barnes has topped another chart.

His childhood memoir Working Class Boy was the best-selling book in Australia, according to the Nielsen Bookscan chart. It had over 16,000 ‘across the counter’ sales – besting established authors Andy Griffiths and J K Rowling.

Nielsen Bookscan reported that Working Class Boy also generated the biggest first-week sales for an Australian autobiography in more than five years.

James Kellow, CEO of HarperCollins commented: “This is the most impressive debut week of any Australian author in the history of HarperCollins Australia. We couldn’t be more proud of Jimmy, he is one of Australia’s great storytellers, and his personal story has hit the nerve of the nation.”

Book retailers were equally effusive about the Barnes book’s sales activity.

Sharyn Villaverde, the Category Manager at Dymocks head office in George Street Sydney declared, “First week sales have exceeded our expectations making this our fastest selling Australian biography of the past ten years.”

Gemene Heffernan-Smith, Digital Sales Manager for HarperCollins said Working Class Boy was doing well on ebook. It not only sat at #1 for several days on iBooks (and featured on all the other retailer charts) but was the top search term on iBooks on Day 2 of sales.

The book also topped the bestseller chart at Leading Edge Books, the country’s largest group of independent booksellers. Its National Group Manager Galina Marinov revealed, “We have picked it as one of, if not the ONE, top sellers for independents this Christmas season,” adding, “This is a very special book, a rare book that will resonate with Australians from all walks of life.”

Barnes is currently in the middle of his Australian book tour, and is overwhelmed by public support for his story at book signings, events and on social media.

“When I wrote this book I was really doing it for myself – to try to make sense of what happened to me. Writing it helped me a lot so it’s been great to see it striking such a chord with so many other people too.”

After the book tour, Barnes will do 20 dates in November and December with the show Working Class Boy: Stories And Songs and some music. The run will also bring attention to the anti-domestic violence work of the Luke Batty Foundation.

Shows are added in Canberra Theatre Centre (December 6), Wrest Point Centre, Hobart (February 3) and Country Club Showroom, Launceston (February 4).

Nine dates have also been introduced in New Zealand, where the autobiography was the #1 international non-fiction release.

Between February 6 to 18, Barnes will be in Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, New Plymouth, Tauranga, Hamilton and Auckland.

Barnes sums up, “Both the live show and the book are obviously the most personal projects I’ve ever done. It’s amazing to see the way people have responded to the exact things that I’ve spent a lifetime trying to hide.

“I’m very grateful that the book and this tour are striking such a chord. Hopefully, it might help other people who’ve been through similar things to share their stories too.”