New Book on Rupert Murdoch Flops Despite Pre-Release Hype -- Falls Short of Even Olivia Nuzzi's Debut Sales

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: MEDIAite

Feb 15th, 2026, 4:03 pm


Bill O’Reilly used to tell viewers they were entering the “No Spin Zone” when they watched his Fox News program. Unfortunately for Vanity Fair special correspondent Gabriel Sherman, his new book on the family drama surrounding Rupert Murdoch — the man who built Fox News — just debuted in the No Sales Zone.

Sherman’s book, Bonfire of the Murdochs, sold only 1,118 books in the first week following its Feb. 3 publication, according to Bookscan sales figures reviewed by Mediaite. That put the book well outside The New York Times best seller list and stands out because it sold even less than the 1,165 copies Olivia Nuzzi’s American Canto moved last fall — and that memoir was absolutely pummeled by the critics and many media talking heads.

Bonfire has also failed to climb into the top 200 sellers among non-fiction books so far in 2026, based on the sales data. The limp sales stand out considering Bonfire received some decent publicity heading into its publication date.

Publishers Weekly dubbed it a “juicy melodrama” and the Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Hollywood Reporter, MS NOW, and the BBC were some of the other outlets that covered the book, which chronicled the “epic family war” for Murdoch’s media empire.

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/media/new-book-on-rupert-murdoch-flops-despite-pre-release-hype-falls-short-of-even-olivia-nuzzis-debut-sales/

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So no one bought up tens of thousands of them to boost the book up on a best sellers lists? Oh well...

[mwmisses4289]

1. Fox and the murdochs are sort of but not quite

persona non grata with t right now. They have dared run a couple segments that have dared to rather tepidly criticize t.

[FakeNoose]

2. Someone should tell them that MAGAs don't read

... and anyone who CAN read already knows they don't want to read his book.

[mdbl]

3. I already watched the entire series called "Succession"

That was enough.

[PatSeg]

4. Gabriel Sherman is a good writer

I read his "The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--and Divided a Country" a few years back and it was an excellent expose on Roger Ailes and Fox News. I would have thought a book on the Murdoch family would have done as well.

Perhaps people are just tired of people like the Murdochs?

[DoBW]

5. we need a flop scale

like Melania movie would be highest..
Trump Kennedy Center >
Kid Rock Super Bowl would be on it some where
so on