Guillaume Musso has not let go of his throne for 12 years.
Unsurprisingly, the writer therefore remained number one in sales in France in 2022, while Annie Ernaux made an appearance in the “top 10” thanks to the Nobel Prize.
According to this ranking produced by the benchmark institute, GfK, and published Tuesday in
Le Figaro
, the 48-year-old author of
La vie est un roman
has sold 1.383 million copies of his books, very far ahead of its competitors.
He is followed by the Swiss Joël Dicker, 37 (988,000 copies), who was not in the "top 10" the previous year, and Mélissa Da Costa, 32 (845,000 copies), who climbed five places.
An author ignored by the world of literary prizes
Guillaume Musso took first place in this ranking in 2011, which Marc Levy had occupied from 2004 to 2010. The success of this writer, initially published by XO editions, is explained by thrilling intrigues, an inspiration that sticks to the air of time, similar to that of television series, and effective writing.
After moving to Calmann-Lévy in 2018, Guillaume Musso gradually renewed his themes.
But he and the world of literary prizes or criticism continue to ignore each other.
His latest installment,
Angélique
, is the fourth best-selling book of 2022, however, when it was released at the end of September.
He is above all the antithesis of Annie Ernaux, adored by critics and crowned in October with the Nobel Prize for Literature.
To appear as she does in 7th place in the ranking (633,000 copies) is a feat for an author who has no title among the 50 best-selling in 2022, and has a rather intellectual and politicized image.
But his publishing house, Gallimard, was able to bounce back very quickly on the announcement of this Nobel.
And his books like
La Place
or
Le Jeune Homme
have benefited from a lot of exposure from booksellers, who generally adore him.
Comics just behind literature
The loser of this ranking, on the other hand, is Virginie Grimaldi, who fell two places (4th, 820,000 copies).
Follow Pierre Lemaitre (5th, 780,000) and Franck Thilliez (6th, 757,000).
Valérie Perrin (8th, 632,000), Marc Levy (9th, 630,000) and Marie-Bernadette Dupuy (10th, 554,000) complete this top 10.
In addition, according to GfK, book sales in France fell by 4% to 4.3 billion euros in 2022, suffering from the comparison with an exceptional year 2021.
Literature accounts for 27% of the market, ahead of comics (23%) and children's books (16%).
This represents 159 million novels, collections of short stories or poetry sold, or 2.3 per inhabitant.
Books
Best-selling novelist Françoise Bourdin is dead
Culture
"The favorite book of the French" is "It's high time to rekindle the stars" by Virginie Grimaldi
Culture
Books
Literature
writer
Annie Ernaux