George Orwell’s “1984” has gone from required reading to desired reading, including in Honolulu, where copies of the dystopian novel were in demand at stores and public libraries.

First published in 1949, Orwell’s classic tale of a society run by Big Brother in which facts are distorted and suppressed in a cloud of “newspeak” has topped Amazon.com for more than a week. The surge in interest is credited to concerns about the Donald Trump administration, which has popularized terms such as “alternative facts.”

Barnes & Noble at Ala Moana Center was sold out last week, with copies on back order, according to a salesclerk. The Hawaii State Public Library System reported 37 people were on a waitlist to borrow print copies of “1984,” while 24 were waitlisted for the audiobook and 20 for a free ebook download. Spokesman Paul H. Mark described the interest as “moderate.” (For more info, visit librarieshawaii.org.)

Signet Classics announced Wednesday that it has ordered an additional 500,000 copies printed for a book that already is standard classroom reading.

Concerns about Trump have also raised interest in dire narratives such as Sinclair Lewis’ “It Can’t Happen Here” and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”