Copies of the magazine are easy to get in France, but not here. Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images.

Copies of the magazine are easy to get in France, but not here. Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images.

One week after the terrorist attack that claimed 12 people at its offices in Paris, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is going to press with a record five million copies of its follow-up issue. The the latest issue, which features a controversial cover of the prophet Muhammad holding a sign that says “Je suis Charlie” underneath the words “Tout est pardonné” (all is forgiven), is already selling out in France, but it’s proving close to impossible to find over here.

DCist called more than a dozen local bookstores and news stands, and none of those who answered their phones are stocking the issue. A representative from Upshur Street Books in Petworth said the store was looking into obtaining copies, but is “not hopeful,” as the issue is completely back-ordered.

Politics & Prose in Chevy Chase doesn’t have the magazine on the shelf, and had no comment on whether they will track down copies to sell.

There’s also no copies of the latest issue at Kramerbooks in Dupont, B&K News Stand in Adams Morgan, Kaempfer Newsstand in Farragut, or any of the Barnes & Noble locations in the D.C. area. A representative at Books-A-Million in Dupont didn’t even know what Charlie Hebdo was.

The lack of the magazine’s availability in the U.S. is not surprising, as it is published entirely in French and geared toward a French audience. D.C. does have some specialty magazine stores that carry a wider selection of foreign-language periodicals, including The News Room in Dupont and News World in Farragut, but neither store returned multiple calls for comment.

The Newseum is displaying the cover as part of today’s gallery of front pages, but a representative told DCist they weren’t selling the magazine. Still, if you want to see a cartoon of Muhammad up close and personal today, take a walk down Pennsylvania Ave.

We’ll update this post if we hear of any other stores selling the magazine. In the meantime, you can read the whole issue (if you’re fluent in French) below:

Filed Under: bookstores, Charlie Hebdo, politics & Prose, upshur street books,