4.9 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Rules for Life | 2/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Rules_for_Life | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T08:52:30.445868+00:00 | kb-cron |
To promote the book, Peterson went on a world tour, initially from January 14, 2018, to February 17, 2018, including events in England, Canada, and the United States. The sold-out venues included 1,000-seat conference hall Emmanuel Centre in London, and 2,000-seat Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The February 11 event at Citadel Theatre in Edmonton was cancelled by the theatre's board of directors and management, for which they later apologized, and instead was held at a sold-out Hyatt Place. The second part included three sold-out events in March in Australia, continuing at Beacon Theatre in New York, and the third part held between early May and June initially numbering ten events in the US and Canada and one in the UK. Until June, the tour visited 45 cities in North America, Europe and Australia, reaching an audience of over 100,000 people. According to Peterson, nearly 200,000 people attended the live events until late July. As part of the tour, Peterson had an interview on Channel 4 News that went viral, receiving considerable attention and nearly 49 million views on YouTube. He also appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC's HARDtalk; LBC's Maajid Nawaz radio show; Fox & Friends and Tucker Carlson Tonight; ABC's 7.30; Sky News Australia's Outsiders; HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher; and The Dr. Oz Show, among others.
=== Release === Penguin Allen Lane published the book on January 16, 2018, in the UK. Random House Canada published it on January 23 in Canada. As of September 2018, the book was slated to be translated into 45 languages. The 12 Rules for Life audiobook was number one on Audible in Canada, and number three in the US. In Canada, since its debut, it topped The Globe and Mail's and the Toronto Star's nonfiction bestsellers lists. According to CBC Books, it was the 4th-bestselling Canadian book of the year. According to the Toronto Star, it was the "biggest Canadian book success story of the year", topping original nonfiction and Canadian nonfiction categories, with only Canadian poet writer Rupi Kaur having similar sales. Kobo Inc. reported that it was the 2nd-bestselling audiobook of 2018 in Canada. Per BookNet Canada and BNC SalesData, the print book was 3rd, and Peterson was the bestselling Canadian author of the year. In the UK the book enjoyed five weeks at the top of The Sunday Times's bestsellers list for general hardcover (February 18 – March 25, again on April 15), selling over 120,000 copies by September 16. According to The Sunday Times, the hardback edition was the year's 4th-biggest seller in the "general hardbacks" category with 153,160 copies sold by end of the year. According to The Guardian, the Nielsen BookScan reported sales of 147,899 copies made it only the 32nd bestselling book of the year. The Nielsen BookScan reported sales of over 10,000 copies until March 12 in Australia. In Ireland it was the 23rd-bestselling book of the year with 14,408 copies. In the US, the book became the number-one nonfiction book and e-book on The Wall Street Journal's Best-Selling Books list. It also topped The Washington Post's and Reuters's US bestsellers list, reached number two on USA Today's overall list, and topped the hardcover nonfiction and top 10 overall category for Publishers Weekly, selling over 559,000 copies by September 24, 2018. In the category it replaced Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury. At the end of the year the hardcover version was the 11th-bestselling book, with 692,238 copies. Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle said in late March that the book had already sold over 700,000 copies in the US. The book did not chart on The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and IndieBound bestsellers list. According to Toronto Star books editor Deborah Dundas, the New York Times stated it was not counted because it was published by a Canadian company. According to Random House Canada, the book was handled properly for the US market. Peterson announced the book had sold over 2 million copies (August 6, 2018), then 3 million copies (January 13, 2019), and later that work had begun on a sequel (January 2019). The book reached 5 million sales by November 2020. By May 2023 the book had sold over 10 million copies. In March 2019, Whitcoulls, one of New Zealand's leading book retailers, temporarily removed the book from their stores and online catalogue, apparently in reaction to the Christchurch mosque shootings. The withdrawal of the book was prompted by social media photos of Peterson posing with a fan wearing a T-shirt saying "I'm a proud Islamophobe." Peterson and his supporters strongly criticized Whitcoulls's decision because Whitcoulls continued to sell Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and Henry Malone's Islam Unmasked. The book was reinstated six days after it was removed.
== Reception ==