Kamala Harris's 'The Truths We Hold' Demonstrates What's Wrong With Campaign Books
Though not a literary masterpiece, the California senator's book is effective as a campaign tool: She makes an argument for a chance at the presidency — like the prosecutor she is.
If a great book is a sumptuous meal, the campaign book is a bottle of Soylent.
A novel by Nabokov, a play by Shakespeare, even a pulpy airport crime novel — these satisfy the basic urge to read a story with beginning, middle, and end; to watch characters interact and to understand their complex motivations. These stories are there for the joy of consumption.
The campaign book is not that. The campaign book is a delivery device. It's there to supply you with something: the case for Candidate X. If you laugh or cry at Candidate X's book — well, that's great, but did you come away thinking X would be a good president?
