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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
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Kamala Harris to Publish Memoir About 2024 Race
One year to the day that she began her for president and one day after declaring that she will not run for governor of California, Kamala Harris has announced that she will publish a memoir about the experience. 107 Days is due out September 23 from Simon & Schuster. Harris made the reveal in a video released this morning, accompanied by a caption explaining that, “This book is not a recap of our race. It is a candid and personal account of my journey — the shortest presidential campaign in modern history.” Details about the deal have not been disclosed. I wonder how Joe Biden is feeling about his $10 million advance today?
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A Conflict of Interest on the Booker Prize Panel?
The Guardian has reported that Claire Adams’s novel Love Forms, which was just longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, is in development with a production company owned by Booker panel member Sarah Jessica Parker. Parker also published Adams’s first novel through her imprint SJP for Hogarth. Now, publishing is a small world, and as Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, told The Guardian,”It is not uncommon for judges to have a connection to authors whose work has been submitted, so all judges have to declare any conflicts of interest at the outset.” Parker reportedly disclosed the conflict, and per Booker rules, “No book can go through if it is supported by one judge alone, and Love Forms has earned its place on the Booker prize 2025 longlist through the active support of other judges on the panel.”
Disclosure is great, but how much conflict of interest is too much conflict of interest? Opportunities for the kind of exposure afforded by making a major award’s longlist—or potentially winning it—are exceptionally rare, and I hate to see anything that could taint the public’s perception of the author or the award’s integrity. One really must wonder why SJP didn’t recuse herself and where, exactly, the Booker Prize Foundation would draw the line.
The It Books of August
Every month, we put 10 of the hottest new releases through a high-stakes knockout round. Which one will be crowned It Book of the Month?