Michael Savage

Early life and education

Savage was born Michael Alan Weiner in the Bronx, New York, one of three children of Benjamin and Rae Weiner, Jewish emigrants from Russia. He described his childhood as difficult. His little brother, Jerome, was born with developmental disabilities and was unable to hear or speak. Jerome died in 1969. His father, the owner of an antiques shop, died of a heart attack at age 57 in 1970, and his mother died in 2003.

After graduating from Jamaica High School in 1958, Savage attended Queens College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1963. After college Savage taught high school for several years in New York City. His first marriage in 1964 to Carol Ely ended in divorce, and he remarried in 1967 after meeting his current wife, Janet. During this time Savage also worked for famous psychedelic drug advocate Timothy Leary as keeper of the stone gatehouse on the Hitchcock Cattle Company estate in Millbrook, New York, to which Leary had been given access. Leary hired him to the post because Savage did not use LSD himself. Savage then studied at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, earning a Master of Science in botany in 1970 and a Master of Arts in anthropology in 1972. He obtained a PhD in 1978 from the University of California, Berkeley, in nutritional ethnomedicine. His thesis was titled Nutritional Ethnomedicine in Fiji.

Shift in political opinions

Savage introduced himself to certain writers in the North Beach area of San Francisco in the 1970s. He befriended and traveled with Beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Stephen Schwartz, also an acquaintance of Savage from this time, reported Savage possessed a photograph of himself and Ginsberg swimming naked in Hawaii and used the photograph as sort of a "calling card." Savage maintained a correspondence with Ginsberg consisting of ten letters and a trio of postcards across four years, which is maintained with Ginsberg's papers at Stanford University. One letter asked for Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti to come do a poetry reading, so others could "hear and see and know why I adore your public image." Another acquaintance was poet and author Neeli Cherkovski, who says that Savage dreamed of becoming a stand-up comic in the mold of Lenny Bruce.

Acquaintance Robert Cathcart says that by 1980, in his private conversations with Savage, he knew him to have conservative political views. Schwartz stated Savage became alienated from the North Beach scene in the early 1980s. Savage had intense arguments with his liberal friends. When asked about his shift in politics and other views, Savage replied, "I was once a child; I am now a man." Savage has cited many occurrences in his life that helped shape his conservative views. Savage states that his opinions on welfare were partly shaped by his first job out of college as a social worker. He described one incident in which his supervisor had him deliver a check to a welfare client to furnish their apartment, while his own apartment was furnished with cardboard boxes. Another turning point occurred for him as a writer of health and nutrition books in the 1980s, when he experienced what he saw as "political opposition" after making the suggestion that the closure of homosexual bathhouses might be necessary in response to the emerging AIDS epidemic. In 1994 his final health and nutrition manuscript, Immigrants and Epidemics, was rejected by publishers for being inflammatory. In 1996, Savage applied to become the Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. The University instead selected award-winning journalist and China scholar Orville Schell. Savage sued the University, contending discrimination for being conservative. Savage later dropped the lawsuit.

Radio

The rejection by publishers of his 1994 manuscript about illegal immigration and epidemics prompted Savage to record a demo tape with a mock radio talk show about the contents of the work. He mailed this tape to 250 radio stations in an attempt to change careers and become a radio talk show host. On March 21, 1994, Savage began his radio career on KGO (a San Francisco news/talk radio station) as a fill-in host for the liberal Ray Taliaferro and later as a weekend host. At the time, his slogan was "To the right of Rush and to the left of God." On January 1, 1995, he was given his own show during the drive-time hours on sister station KSFO. The show quickly became a local hit. During his time at KSFO, Savage reached #1 in Arbitron ratings among both adult men and women over 18 during afternoon drive-time in San Francisco and became top talk host in his time-slot.

In mid 2006, Savage had 8–10 million listeners per week, which made his show the third most widely heard broadcast in the United States at that time. Savage has described his listeners as "literate callers with intelligence, wit, and energy." He has described his show's production as one with a "... hard edge combined with humor and education ... Those who listen to me say they hear a bit of Plato, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Moses, Jesus, and Frankenstein." Mark de la Viña of the San Jose Mercury News wrote of Savage: "In contrast to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Laura Schlessinger, Bay Area-based Savage mixes conservative diatribe and blunt observations with acerbic humor and the gift of gab."

By 2009, The Savage Nation had an audience of 8 to 10 million listeners on 400 stations across the United States, making it the second most listened-to radio talk show in the country at the time. Around that time, Savage asked his audience for their opinion prior to consenting to a profile interview by Kelefa Sanneh of The New Yorker; Savage eventually accepted that offer and the New Yorker profile, titled "Party of One", was published in the August 3, 2009, issue, which covered Savage's life and personality in great detail.

On September 10, 2009, KNEW-AM (910 kHz) in Savage's home market of San Francisco announced that it was dropping his program and replacing him with John and Ken from sister station KFI-AM (640 kHz)/Los Angeles. John Scott, program director of KNEW said in an e-mail that the station was headed "... in a different philosophical and ideological direction, featuring more contemporary content and more local information." According to Arbitron monthly ratings, KNEW-AM dropped in the ratings since Savage was let go. San Francisco station KTRB picked up the program for the San Francisco market, and saw a ratings boost in the afternoon drive. However, the program was among the first casualties when KTRB went into receivership in September 2010.

On January 22, 2010, Savage revealed to his audience that a writer for Playboy had contacted him via email to do a lengthy interview, and again asked his listeners if he should accept the offer. During the show, Savage read from personal emails between the Playboy writer and himself. The writer admitted to being a listener of the Savage Nation but a critic of the profile done by The New Yorker. The writer also stated that the purpose of the interview was to "rattle" Playboy's readers. On May 12, 2010, Savage revealed that he had granted the interview at his home. Playboy published the interview in June 2010. He read from a pre-publication copy of the 8,000-word Playboy interview, in which the writer expressed animosity for Savage and his views. Savage said that he was disappointed at the lack of journalistic objectivity, but did not harbor hatred for the writer. He referred back to the New Yorker interview by Kelefa Sanneh, and praised Sanneh as a "real writer" who had understood his subject.

On September 27, 2012, Savage's talk show left the airwaves after he won a legal battle with Talk Radio Network, his longtime employer, and his attorney said discussions with new networks were under way. Savage began an occasional series of video webcasts via Ustream on September 30, 2012. On October 17, 2012, Savage and his new syndicator Cumulus Media Networks announced that they had made a deal and the program, after several weeks off the air, would be returning as of October 23, 2012. By April 2013, according to the radio industry's Talkers Magazine, Savage had 3.5+ million weekly listeners, putting him in a six-way tie for sixth place, and six talk show hosts getting 7.5+ million weekly listeners. On September 26, 2013 Cumulus Media Networks announced that Michael Savage's radio show, The Savage Nation, would move to the 3p-6p ET time-slot beginning in January 2014. This time slot had been occupied by Sean Hannity.

In January 2015, it was announced that Savage and Westwood One had reached agreement on a long-term contract renewal for The Savage Nation.

MSNBC television show

Savage was hired by MSNBC president Erik Sorenson to do a one-hour show beginning March 8, 2003, despite Savage's previous criticism of the network in his book The Savage Nation and the objections of NBC employees including news anchor Tom Brokaw, who asked NBC executives, "Is this the sort of man who embodies the values of NBC?" Sorenson, at the time, called Savage "brash, passionate and smart," and promised that he would provide "compelling opinion and analysis with an edge."

Four months later, on July 7, Savage was fired from his MSNBC television show after remarks made in response to a caller, later identified as prank caller Bob Foster, who insulted Savage's teeth. Savage then asked if Foster was a "sodomite", to which the caller answered, "Yes, I am." Savage then said to the caller,

Oh, so you're one of those sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig; how's that? Why don't you see if you can sue me, you pig? You got nothing better to do than to put me down, you piece of garbage? You got nothing to do today? Go eat a sausage, and choke on it. Get trichinosis. Now do we have another nice caller here who's busy because he didn't have a nice night in the bathhouse who's angry at me today? Put another, put another sodomite on ... no more calls? ... I don't care about these bums; they mean nothing to me. They're all sausages.

The day after being fired, Savage apologized on his radio program and on his website. He explained that he believed that MSNBC had gone to commercial to cover the gaffe of the attempted sabotage by a prank caller and that he was off the air at the time of the offensive comments, despite the fact that clips of the segment show Savage going to commercial after he made the comments. He also said his remarks were meant only to insult the caller, not all people with AIDS.

Political views

Michael Savage calls himself an "independent-minded individualist" and says that he "fits no stereotype." He has also cited Barry Goldwater as an influence. Savage criticizes big government as well as liberalism and liberal activism, and accuses the mainstream news media of liberal bias. He considers the three aspects that define a nation as borders, language, and culture; those aspects inspired the motto of the Paul Revere Society.

In 2003, Savage said that he voted in 2000 for George W. Bush "quite reluctantly, incidentally." In 2004, Savage and the Revere Society hosted a party at Schroeder's Cafe in San Francisco celebrating the re-election of Bush. Savage donated $5,600 to the campaign of Democratic candidate Jerry Brown in the 2006 California Attorney General election.

Regarding candidates for the 2012 Republican primaries, Savage said that Ron Paul had "great ideas" but expressed hope that Rick Perry would be the nominee. On December 12, 2011, he offered Newt Gingrich "1 million dollars" to withdraw from the United States Presidential contest. He stated that only Mitt Romney had a chance to beat Barack Obama, a man he had previously described as a "quasi-pseudo-crypto Marxist" and a possible foreign usurper, in the 2012 election.

Savage strongly supported Donald Trump, a regular guest on his talk show, since Trump's June 2015 announcement of his candidacy in the United States 2016 presidential election. Trump has claimed to be a listener and a fan of Savage's show, and an April 2016 Salon article described Savage as having been a major influence on Trump's campaign.

Legal defense contributions

Savage has regularly donated money toward the legal defense of the Marines accused of murdering civilians in Haditha, Iraq; occasionally, Savage will offer proceeds from any sales through his website. Savage had regular contact with the attorneys of the accused and criticizes their treatment at Camp Pendleton. Most recently, Savage has donated over $10,000 to the U.S. Marines Charity Defense Fund at the Thomas More Law Center On April 25, 2007, he pledged $1 for each copy of Healing Children Naturally and Reducing the Risk of Alzheimer's purchased from his website to be donated to the U.S. Marines Defense Fund. The Marines were ultimately found not guilty.

In November 2014, Dr. Savage helped reunite a wounded soldier with his K-9 partner as well as donating money to purchase an SUV.

Lieutenant Michael Behenna

On his nationally syndicated talk radio program, Michael Savage announced that he had sent another $50,000 to aid in the defense of First Lieutenant Michael Behenna, who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for murdering alleged terrorist Ali Mansur Mohammed while serving in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division in 2008. Savage has previously given $50,000 to Behenna's defense from the Savage Legal Defense Fund and his own personal contributions. According to Vicki Behenna, the lieutenant's mother, additional contributions from listeners since Savage brought up this topic on his program have amounted to over $40,000. This brings the total contributions from Savage and his listeners to nearly $150,000.

Michael Savage Scholarship

In July 2015, Savage announced the five winners of his essay contest based on the question "What Does It Mean to Be an American?" The college students will each receive a $20,000 scholarship over a two-year period. The winners, announced on The Savage Nation radio show, were selected from approximately 1,700 entries. Savage launched the $100,000 scholarship fund in early 2015 with the intention of promoting traditional American values among conservative college students.

Awards

On June 9, 2007, Talkers Magazine awarded Savage with the publication's annual "Freedom of Speech Award," and he accepted it with a pre-recorded speech.

National Radio Hall of Fame

In 2016 Michael Savage was named as an inductee to the National Radio Hall of Fame in the category of Spoken Word On-Air Personality. He was selected over other nominees Sean Hannity, Diane Rehm and Mike Francesa. [1]

Criticism

In July 2005, former CBS reporter Bernard Goldberg ranked Savage as number 61 in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America. Goldberg wrote that "Savage's brand of over-the-top bile ... puts him right in there with the angriest haters of the Left." David Klinghoffer, a National Review columnist, speculated that The Savage Nation "is an act, a put-on." Various progressive advocacy groups such as GLAAD and FAIR accuse Savage of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and Islamophobia because of his controversial statements about homosexuality, Islam, feminism, sex education, and immigration.

On April 17, 2006, he said on the topic of Muslims, "They say, 'Oh, there's a billion of them.' I said, 'So, kill 100 million of them, then there'll be 900 million of them.' I mean, would you rather die—would you rather us die than them?" This was taken from an argument dealing with the possibility of a nuclear conflict in that region. This was repeated in the media after Savage was barred from entering the UK.

In the wake of the actor Robin Williams' suicide, Savage said that suicide is an "aggressive act" that shows no consideration for loved ones left behind. The assertion prompted criticism, but a caller to The Savage Nation said the radio host's frank talk about the subject helped him decide to not take his own life. A caller who identified himself as Joe told Savage he had been contemplating suicide for the past several months, and especially in the most recent week previous to the call. After Savage discovered that Joe was suffering financially, he asked his audience to join in helping Joe get through the rest of the month by donating through the Savage Legal Defense Fund. The Fund raised over $10,000 in just a few days. Another caller from Detroit had given Savage a jolt by referring to his days as a phone line crisis counselor as being predominantly dealing with suicide calls. The advice that the Detroit caller had given - "you are taking a permanent solution for a temporary problem" encouraged Savage to reach out to the suicidal caller he had.

Catholic Church and Immigration

In March 2006, Savage criticised Roman Catholic assistance to illegal immigrants (in response to statements by Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles calling it "pastoral support"). Bill Donohue of the Catholic League canceled an appearance on the show, saying "what is not fine is Savage's diatribe about the 'greedy pigs' in the Catholic Church and how 'the institution is rotten from the top to the bottom.' He owes all Catholics an apology."

On March 28, 2006, Savage encouraged his listeners to burn Mexican flags to counter pro-immigration rallies in California.

C-SPAN broadcast of Talkers Award

When Talkers Magazine awarded Savage with the publication's annual "Freedom of Speech Award," C-SPAN opted not to broadcast a pre-recorded speech that had been sent by Savage. Although the award ceremony had received coverage in previous years, C-SPAN did not televise it due to its policy of televising such speeches only when delivered in person. Savage told his listeners to express their ire to C-SPAN through calls and e-mails to the organization.

Dispute with CAIR

In early November 2007, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on radio listeners to contact companies that advertise on Savage's program to express their concerns about his comments concerning Muslims. Savage was quoted as saying Muslims "need deportation", and that adherents of Islam would do well to "take your religion and shove it up your behind" because "I'm sick of you." On his show and website, Savage answered by accusing CAIR of supporting Hamas.

On November 8, 2007, following a campaign by CAIR meant to get Savage off the air by alerting his sponsors to the nature of his comments, Citrix Systems, Inc. pulled its advertisements from his show.

Savage sued CAIR for copyright infringement for using excerpts from his show on CAIR's website. The suit alleged that CAIR's repackaging of Savage's comments was "deliberately designed to obscure the specific message conveyed by Michael Savage". The excerpts included Savage's characterization of the Qur'an as "a throwback document" and a "book of hate". CAIR called the suit "bizarre, sloppy and baseless". On July 25, 2008, the United States district court dismissed Savage's suit against CAIR, holding that the posting of the audio clip was protected under the First Amendment doctrine of fair use, as it was used to "comment on and rebut derogatory statements regarding their organization and their religious affiliations." The court gave Savage the opportunity to file an amended complaint if he wanted to try to cure the defects in his suit. That amended complaint alleged that CAIR was a RICO conspirator in support of terror, including the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center. Permission was granted to allow that filing but on August 14, 2008, however, Savage's lawyer, Daniel Horowitz, announced that Savage would not file an amended complaint and would drop the case. CAIR then sought attorneys fees against Savage but U.S. District Court judge Susan Illston denied that request.

Autism

In July 2008, Savage said that the increasing rate of autism diagnoses was the result of "a racket" designed to get disability payments for "poorer families who have found a new way to be parasites on the government." He returned to the subject on his July 16, 2008, show with the following remarks:

Now, the illness du jour is autism. You know what autism is? I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, "Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."

In July 2008 the progressive pressure group Media Matters for America picketed the studios of WOR in New York, along with parents of autistic children. WOR issued a statement saying, "We regret any consternation that his remarks may have caused to our listeners." Also that day, the insurance company Aflac pulled its advertising, and the Supertalk Mississippi radio network dropped Savage's program, replacing it with The Dennis Miller Show. Later that evening, Savage devoted his entire three-hour program to the subject, taking calls from parents who took issue with his comments. On that show Savage stated that his remarks had been "ripped out of context" by "far left Stalinists" who want him off of the air. He appeared on Larry King Live with Glenn Beck as the substitute host for Larry King, and said that the real issue he was commenting on was the overdiagnosis of children due to pharmaceutical companies' drive to drug children for higher profits. On July 25, 2008, Autism United advocates gathered to announce that several advertisers, including RadioShack, Sears, Home Depot, and DirectBuy, will discontinue their support for Savage's show.

Savage's syndicator, Talk Radio Network, has responded by releasing a lengthy statement, along with a selection of 20 audio clips drawn from Savage's discussions of autism, to show that the comments were taken out of context.

Banned from entering the United Kingdom

On May 5, 2009, it was announced by then-Home Secretary Jacqui Smith that Savage was on a list of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom as he is "considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence". During his radio broadcast on that same day, Savage declared that he would sue Smith personally for defamation, calling her a "lunatic".

During a subsequent NPR talk show, Savage said that he has never advocated violence and repeatedly invoked the United States Constitution's First Amendment. After host Neal Conan pointed out that the U.S. Constitution does not apply to the United Kingdom, Savage replied, "No. Thank God I'm an American. But for this lunatic ... to link me up with Nazi skinheads who are killing people in Russia ... to put me in league with Hamas murderers who killed Jews on buses, is astonishing". Savage also called on his listeners to support him by canceling travel and business in Britain as well as by boycotting British-made goods, commenting, "If they want to play hardball, we'll play hardball." When a caller challenged Savage about his talk show rhetoric, Savage called him a "foaming lunatic ... someone in pajamas in a mental asylum ... You're nobody and I'm not going to talk to you!" At that point, Neal Conan invited him to leave.

Of the banning, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wrote: "America still has a constitutional protection of free speech, and I have been amazed ... to see how few people in this country are willing to stick up for that elementary principle ... a country once famous for free speech is now hysterically and expensively sensitive to anything that could be taken as a slight." In The Guardian, Catherine Bennett wrote: "The ban on Savage is so far from being a comprehensible act, so staggeringly capricious and stupid, as to defy evaluation." While Sam Leith wrote: "Barring this shock-jock from Britain risks turning a rabid blabbermouth into a beacon for free speech."

On July 12, 2010, the new Coalition government, of which the Conservative Party's David Cameron was Prime Minister, announced that it will continue to ban Savage from entering the UK.

Veteran PTSD

On October 14, 2014, Savage criticized veteran sufferers of post traumatic stress disorder, accusing them of "weakness". According to Savage, "Everyone has depression in their life. But if the whole nation is told, 'boo-hoo-hoo, come and get a medication, come and get treatment, talk about mental illness.' You know what you wind up with? You wind up with Obama in the White House and liars in every phase of the government. That's what you wind up with. It's a weak, sick, nation. A weak, sick, broken nation. And you need men like me to save the country. You need men to stand up and say stop crying like a baby over everything ... No wonder we're being laughed at around the world. No wonder ISIS can defeat our military."

Personal life

While in the South Pacific, he became fascinated with the 19th-century sailor Charles Savage, who was believed to have been the first man to bring firearms to Fiji. That fascination led to Weiner's name change to Savage, likely combined with the inappropriateness of "Weiner Nation" as a good show title.

Savage and his second wife, Janet, have two children, a daughter and a son; his son, Russell Weiner, is the founder of the company that produces the Rockstar energy drink. Russell's mother, Janet, served as CFO of his company until July 2009. Daughter Rebecca Lin Yops has worked as an elementary school teacher. In 1974, Savage and his family moved to Fairfax, California after Savage completed his master's degree at the University of Hawaii. Savage has homes in Larkspur and Tiburon in Marin County, California, an apartment in San Francisco, as well as residences in Beverly Hills and West Palm Beach, Florida.

During the 1980s, Savage attended Friday night services at a Chabad house in Berkeley. In a 2003 interview on The O'Reilly Factor, Savage has said that although he believes in God, he attends houses of worship only once or twice a year. In his 2012 book Trickle Down Tyranny, Savage wrote: "... I'm not religious. Do I believe in God? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't."

Books

In total, Savage has written 40 books, twenty under his real name of Michael Weiner, and twenty under his pseudonym of Michael Savage. As Michael Savage, his works include two #1 New York Times bestsellers and three additional books which made the New York Times bestseller list. have also been reprinted under his alias of Michael Savage.

His earlier books as Michael A. Weiner, Ph.D., are focused around his doctoral expertise in the field of nutritional ethnomedicine. In them, he advocates nutritional, herbal, and homeopathic options to approach the prevention and treatment of diseases such as poor diet, aging, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, allergies, cocaine addiction, the common cold, and AIDS. He has also written about tree planting, beer-tasting, and nutritional cooking.

His more recent books as Michael Savage are political in nature and published by a variety of different companies. His recent works also include holiday family stories and thrillers.

In 1991, Savage self-published The Death of the White Male, an argument against affirmative action, through Quantum Books. In the book, Savage, calls affirmative action "reverse discrimination", and demonstrates his emerging philosophy. This eventually led to his starting the Paul Revere Society and he continues to sell the book to raise money for this group.

In January 2003, Savage published The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture, his first major book under the pseudonym Michael Savage. The book quickly reached the top of the New York Times Best Seller list, earning Savage, as noted above, a commentary show on MSNBC. The book directs attacks at "liberal media bias", the "dominating culture of 'she-ocracy'", gay activists, and liberals.

In January 2004, Savage published his second political book The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Schools, Faith, and Military. His next book, Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder, was released on April 12, 2005. Unlike The Savage Nation, both of these books cited sources for some of the more controversial claims made.

In April 2006, Savage released The Political Zoo. The book contains satirical profiles and cartoons of different public figures, most of whom are liberal political figures and celebrities, who are depicted in caricature as animals in the "Political Zoo", with Savage himself portrayed as the zoo keeper.

In October 2010, Savage released Trickle Up Poverty: Stopping Obama's Attack on Our Borders, Economy, and Security. Released through the HarperCollins imprint of William Morrow and Company, Savage argues in the book that "Americans are boiling mad over the way Congress and this Marxist/Leninist-oriented President are manipulating the current economic crisis to nationalize businesses."

In November 2010, it was confirmed that Savage had signed a deal to write two thrillers for publisher St. Martin's Press. The first political thriller, Abuse of Power, was released on September 13, 2011. The novel is based on "My fictionalized account of being banned from Britain and hunted by overbearing governments is set in the San Francisco only I know", said Savage. It is set in San Francisco, mainly in North Beach, as well as London, and Tel Aviv. It tells the story of a failed carjacking that reveals a government cover-up. A dark plot involving British officials and a terrorist group known as "the Hand of Allah". The publisher has described the novel by saying, "will make 9/11 look like child's play".

In October 2014, Savage released Stop the Coming Civil War, in which he comments "[The United States] is in real trouble and the seeds of a second conflagration have been sown. Not between the states - but between true patriots who believe in our nation's founding principles and those he believes are working every day to undermine them and change the very nature of the country." It was listed on the NY Times Bestseller List for six weeks.

In March 2017, Savage released what he said would be his last political book, Trump's War: His Battle For America. The book debuted at number one on the New York Times Best Seller List.