NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� One year ahead of don't expect many about the presumed front-runners, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
The wave of Trump releases that began six years ago with his presidency has subsided, with 鈥淭ired of Winning" and former White House aide 鈥淓nough鈥� among the handful of Trump-centered works due out this fall. Biden, meanwhile, continues to inspire far fewer publications than his immediate predecessors, whether by opponents or defenders.
For now, says Shannon DeVito, Barnes & Noble's senior director for books, there's 鈥渁n exhaustion of interest in political titles.鈥�
By this point in Trump's administration, he had been the subject of unflattering bestsellers from journalists, takedowns by former government officials and books of praise from supporters. With the Biden administration in its third year, detractors have been as interested in attacking his or the immunologist the subject of forthcoming 鈥淒eception,鈥� as going after the president himself. Insider memoirs have been relatively rare because Biden's administration has had far less turnover than Trump's.
upcoming 鈥淭he Last Politician,鈥� which draws upon interviews with more than 100 administration officials, is one of the few in-depth accounts of the Biden presidency.
鈥淵ou just don't have the kind of drama in the Biden administration that you do with others,鈥� says Foer, a staff writer for whose book will offer a mostly positive take on Biden. 鈥淗is public image has been a bit boring by design. But Joe Biden is a fascinating political figure and his presidency has the chance to be more consequential than Trump's in the long run.鈥�
Many political titles this fall will explore broader trends, like 鈥淧requel鈥� on a World War II-era far-right plot, or 鈥淭he Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals.鈥� Other topical books will include firsthand takes on two of the business world's most contentious figures: 鈥淓lon Musk鈥� and 鈥淕oing Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon," about disgraced
Celebrity memoirs, from Britney to Werner Herzog
Even before was announced, 鈥淭he Woman In Me鈥� was the most talked about memoir of the fall, while the weightiest celebrity book 鈥� literally 鈥� is 鈥淢y Name is Barbra,鈥� and listed at more than 1,000 pages.
Others with memoirs this fall include , , , , , Elton John鈥檚 longtime lyricist , filmmaker , writer-comedian and Thurston Moore of will finally open up about his life and work in 鈥淭hank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).鈥� Staci Robinson鈥檚 鈥淭upac Shakur鈥� is the first authorized account of the whose has
In fiction, franchises are revisited...
Like the movie industry, book publishing has its share of popular franchises: Expected bestsellers include 鈥淢urtagh: The World of Eragon鈥�; Rick Riordan鈥檚 next Percy Jackson novel, 鈥淭he Chalice of the Gods鈥�; Rebecca Yarros鈥� 鈥淚ron Flame,鈥� the second volume of her 鈥淓mpyrean鈥� fantasy series; and Ken Follett鈥檚 fifth Kingsbridge historical novel,
鈥淭he Exchange鈥� is from 30 years ago, 鈥淭he Firm,鈥� while Karin Smirnoff鈥檚 鈥淭he Girl in the Eagle鈥檚 Talons鈥� continues the made famous by the late Stieg Larsson. Crime stories also will come from Stephen King, Anne Perry, James Ellroy, Lou Berney and Tod Goldberg. A famed sleuth returns in "Hercule Poirot鈥檚 Silent Night," authorized by the Christie estate.
...and literary icons make long-awaited returns
Ben Fountain's 鈥淒evil Makes Three鈥� is his first novel since his 2012 debut and 鈥淭he Unsettled鈥� arrives more than a decade after 鈥淭welves Tribes of Hattie,鈥� an . 鈥淎merica Fantastica鈥� is his first fiction in more than 20 years and 鈥淭remor" is his first new novel since his lauded 鈥淥pen City鈥� came out in 2011.
Nobel laureate Pulitzer Prize winner Booker Prize winner Anne Enright each have fiction coming this fall, along with Jonathan Lethem, Alice McDermott, Tan Twan Eng, Sigrid Nunez, Kacen Callender and who at 95 is releasing the story collection 鈥淟adies' Lunch.鈥� In 鈥淩oman Stories,鈥� and Todd Portnowitz translate back into English fiction that Lahiri first wrote in Italian. Lahiri, a Pulitzer Prize winner whose first language is English, sees her as a kind of self-discovery.
鈥淚t's part of the realization that whatever drove me to learn Italian 鈥� and not only to learn Italian, but learn how to write in Italian 鈥� (showed) there were things I needed to write about and that somehow I wasn't able to access parts of myself in English," says Lahiri, who has lived off and on in Italy since 2012.
Explore poetry...
Classical scholar Emily Wilson, whose translation of 鈥淭he Odyssey鈥� was a bestseller in 2017, returns with her edition of 鈥淭he Iliad.鈥� this fall includes collections from Jane Hirshfield, Major Jackson, Maurice Manning, Saskia Hamilton and an anthology of the late James Tate, with a foreword by National Book Award winner Terrance Hayes. JJJJJerome Ellis, a self-defined artist and 鈥減roud stutterer,鈥� continues his 鈥淢ultiverse鈥� poetry series with 鈥淎ster of Ceremonies.鈥�
...and virtual life
Some books will touch upon the perils of identity and the internet. 鈥淒oppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World鈥� is the author and activist鈥檚 story of being confused for 鈥淭he Beauty Myth鈥� author and anti-vaxxer The Washington Post鈥檚 offers a wider take on virtual life with 鈥淓xtremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet.鈥�
Journey to the darkness of the future and past
Two prominent fiction writers have apocalyptic takes on the years ahead, with the internet among the culprits. 鈥淭he Future鈥� forecasts a world nearing destruction as tech billionaires plot their escape. In 鈥淭ouched,鈥� also imagines civilization collapsing, and points to the inherent fragility of human existence.
鈥淵ou realize that in the history of the planet, there have been all these life forms that existed before us. It's frightening, what can happen,鈥� Mosley says.
Two others look to the grimmest chapters of the country's past.
鈥淭he Vaster Wilds鈥� is a colonial-era tale of an escaped servant that questions whether the world would have been better off had the Europeans never crossed the Atlantic. 鈥淟et Us Descend,鈥� her first novel since the National Book Award-winning 鈥淪ing, Unburied, Sing,鈥� is narrated by an enslaved girl who endures in part by dreaming of her ancestors. It's a story shaped by contemporary tragedy 鈥� Ward's husband, Brandon Miller, died in 2020 鈥� and by, the author has said, her exploration into how the enslaved could retain their spirit 鈥渆ven through the deepest darkness.鈥�
History, lesser told
In nonfiction, too, authors explore the lesser told stories of American history. Gregg Hecimovich's 鈥淭he Life and Times of Hannah Crafts鈥� is a biography of the country's first known Black female novelist, an escaped slave whose unpublished manuscript was finally released in 2002.
鈥淏lack Writers of the Founding Era: A Library of America Anthology" collects poetry, fiction, memoirs, petitions and other documents from around the time of the American Revolution and forms a 鈥渞ecord of human perseverance and endurance鈥� that helps complete 鈥渢he picture of country's past,鈥� writes in the foreword.
In her memoir-manifesto 鈥淭o Free the Captives,鈥� the Pulitzer Prize winner and remembers her family's passion for Otis Redding and other soul musicians as a testament to Black pride and resilience.
鈥淏lack people were the first folk I knew who invoked the soul constantly. Not with fear, not with threats of condemnation, but in outright joy 鈥� mirth even 鈥� as though what bolstered this facet of us was, in part, our laughter,鈥� she writes. 鈥淏lack people falling out in glee, and Black people falling out in religious ecstasy, were two versions of the same thing. Proof of the undying and holy in us.鈥�
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
