BTS book becomes first Korean title to hit No. 1 on NYT best-seller list

Posted on : 2023-07-21 17:02 KST Modified on : 2023-07-21 17:02 KST
“Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS” compiles three years’ worth of research and two years’ worth of interviews about the K-pop phenomenon
The cover of “Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS.” (courtesy of BigHit Music)
The cover of “Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS.” (courtesy of BigHit Music)

A book commemorating 10 years of BTS is flying off the shelves in the US, where it has become a No. 1 best seller.

BTS’ official book in celebration of their 10th anniversary, “Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS,” topped the non-fiction hardcover category of the New York Times best-seller list released on Wednesday (local time).

The newspaper’s best-seller lists are based on weekly sales and pre-orders of books released in the past nine days, and “Beyond the Story” went straight to the top of the list upon its release.

This is the first time a book by a Korean author has topped the New York Times best-seller list.

The Korean edition of “Beyond the Story” went straight to first place on the weekly best-seller lists of online bookstores in Korea, including Yes24 and Aladin as soon as pre-orders opened on June 15.

Following its official release on July 9, it became the top weekly bestseller at Kyobo Book Centre, and on the day of its release, it became the No. 1 bestseller on online bookstore Amazon in the US, UK, Brazil, Australia and Japan.

In Brazil, it set a new record for the most pre-orders ever.

The book, which tells the story of BTS’ journey since the boy group’s debut, was completed through more than three years of research and two years’ worth of interviews.

The seven chapters “Seoul,” “Why We Exist,” “Love, Hate, Army,” “Inside Out,” “A Flight that Never Lands,” “The World of BTS,” and “We Are,” are organized chronologically.

The author is Kang Myeong-seok, the editor-in-chief of Weverse Magazine, who has been writing about popular music for many years. The book was translated into English by Anton Hur, Clare Richards and Slin Jung.

By Suh Jung-min, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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