With Trump ascendency, Amazon orders more copies of "1984" and other dystopian-themed books

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Orwell’s “1984” is now Amazon’s best-selling book

Conway’s “alternative facts” results in run on book where 'language is held captive'

With “alternative facts” the latest catchphrase, Amazon.com reported today that George Orwell’s “1984” is No. 1 best selling book on its site and the publisher has ordered an additional 75,000 copies.

Signet Classics said Wednesday in New York City that sales have been “remarkably robust” for a book that already is a classroom standard. The heightened interest in Orwell’s dystopian classic, in which language itself is held captive, follows assertions by President Trump and some White House aides about the size of his inaugural crowd and whether voter fraud led him to lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton last fall.

Administration adviser Kellyanne Conway has called such assertions “alternative facts.”

Amazon further announced that it is working with publishers of other dystopian-themed books to increase print runs of those books in a move to ensure supply will meet anticipated Trump-inspired demand. Included in Amazon’s list:

Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi – A novel which describes a world where catastrophes are commonplace, global warming has caused huge sea level rises and biotechnology rules, with mega corporations - calorie companies - controlling food production. 

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley – A classic that paints an image of a cold world with numbing drugs, organized reproduction, no concept of family, and brainwashing from birth. While superficially a hedonistic environment, it soon becomes clear that this is no place to live.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess – Burgess writes about a depressing future riven with violent gangs, extreme youthful violence and the work of state authorities to try and restore order. 

Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – The book describes an American society where books are burned and intellectual thought is illegal. Farenheit 451 tackled head-on the nightmare world where a free press and the dissemination of ideas were not possible. 

The Iron Heel by Jack London – Iron Heel focuses on the breakdown of politics in a future society: specifically the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the U.S., which bankrupts the middle classes and rules over its poor subjects. 

The Running Man by Stephen King under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman – The book is set in a dystopian America in 2025 where the economy is in ruins, violence is commonplace and a totalitarian government rules. Life for those 'blacklisted' is unbearable, and submitting to a game show where death is all-but-certain looks like the only way out. 

The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard – Ballard paints a vivid picture of a world irreversibly changed by global warming with the cities of Europe and America submerged in tropical lagoons.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld – A story where conformity is everything, achieved through mandatory extreme cosmetic surgery - making everyone 'pretty' - upon reaching the age of 16.

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood – Describes an America with a divided society: a rich getting richer and a segregated oppressed poor, who are kept away from the rich. Corporations dominate and control the population, aided by gene manipulation.

And, in the event, as many hope and believe, President Trump is impeached and replaced as president by Vice President Mike Pence, Amazon is also requesting increased print runs for:

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood – This book is set in a totalitarian Christian theocracy which has overthrown the U.S. government and where women are forbidden to read, and the few capable of having children are subjugated and forced to serve the wider needs of society by becoming breeding machines. 

Article 5, by Kristen Simmons – Simmons describes a U.S. run by an ultra-conservative Federal Bureau for Reformation and a child born out of wedlock is, technically illegal.