A president and first lady get their due this season, as do the Beatles and two of the 20th century’s greatest guitarists. Meanwhile, look out for biographies of a novelist, a poet, and a legendary food writer.
Top 10
150 Glimpses of the Beatles
Craig Brown. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Oct. 13 ($30, ISBN 978-0-374-10931-8)
Craig (Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret) offers narrative portraits of the Fab Four and how they influenced fashion, sexual politics, and religion. 50,000-copy announced first printing.
His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life
Jonathan Alter. Simon & Schuster, Sept. 29 ($37.50, ISBN 978-1-5011-2548-5)
In what the publisher touts as the first full-length biography of Jimmy Carter, bestseller Alter, given extensive access to the former president and his family, details Carter’s path from being a Georgia peanut farmer to receiving the Nobel Prize.
Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette, Diablo Cody, and Rachel Syme. Grand Central, (Sept. 29, $40, ISBN 978-1-5387-3699-9)
This book presents a behind-the-scenes look at the Broadway musical based on Morissette’s album of the same name. 120,000-copy announced first printing.
Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight
Julia Sweig. Random House, Dec. 1 ($30, ISBN 978-0-8129-9590-9)
Sweig reevaluates the life of first lady Lady Bird Johnson and the significant impact she had during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.
The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard
John Birdsall. Norton, Oct. 6 ($35, ISBN 978-0-393-63571-3)
“Legendary cookbook author James Beard (1903–1985) remade the American palate while carefully hiding his homosexuality, according to this zesty biography,” says PW’s starred review.
The Mystery of Charles Dickens
A.N. Wilson. Harper, Aug. 4 ($32.50, ISBN 978-0-06-295494-7)
Wilson revisits the novels of Charles Dickens to explore how they captured the imaginations of his readers.
One Life
Megan Rapinoe. Penguin Press, Nov. 10 ($28, ISBN 978-1-984881-16-8)
Olympic soccer gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion Rapinoe writes of her career, as well as her activism in fighting for equal pay for female athletes and LGBTQ rights.
The Power of Adrienne Rich: A Biography
Hilary Holladay. Doubleday/Talese, Nov. 17 ($30, ISBN 978-0-385-54150-3)
Holladay explores the life and work of the National Book Award–winning poet Adrienne Rich in the first comprehensive biography of the writer.
This Thing Called Life: Prince’s Odyssey, on and off the Record
Neal Karlen. St. Martin’s, Oct. 6 ($29.99, ISBN 978-1-250-13524-7)
Karlen, the only journalist to whom Prince granted extensive interviews, opens up about the superstar’s life.
Wild Thing
Philip Norman. Liveright, Sept. 15 ($28.95, ISBN 978-1-63149-589-2)
From the bestselling biographer of the Beatles comes this in-depth look at the life of Jimi Hendrix, set to publish on the 50th anniversary of his death.
Listings
Abrams Press
Nonbinary: A Memoir by Genesis P-Orridge (Nov. 10, $26, ISBN 978-1-4197-4386-3). The late industrial musician and founder of the bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV reveals a life of creativity and destruction.
Algonquin
Love, Zac: Small-Town Football and the Life and Death of an American Boy by Reid Forgrave (Sept. 8, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-61620-908-7) is the story of Zac Easter, a high school football star from small-town Iowa who suffered from sports-related traumatic brain injuries and took his life in 2015 at age 24. 50,000-copy announced first printing.
Amistad
Just as I Am by Cicely Tyson (Oct. 20, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-293106-1). The Academy, Tony, and three-time Emmy-winning actor tells of her acting life and six-decade career.
Atria
Prince Philip: A Biography by Ingrid Seward (Nov. 3, $28, ISBN 978-1-982129-75-0). Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, chronicles the life of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, and the father, grandfather, and great-grandfather of the next three kings of England.
Bloomsbury
Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime by Debora Harding (Sept. 22, $27, ISBN 978-1-63557-612-2). Harding writes of her experience in Omaha, Neb., in 1978 when at age 14 she was abducted at knife point from a church parking lot and held for ransom.
Blue Rider
How Did I Get Here? A Memoir by Bruce McCall (Nov. 24, $27, ISBN 978-0-399-17228-1). McCall, who has written for Saturday Night Live and the New Yorker, recalls his working-class Ontario childhood and coming-of-age working in advertising in Mad Men-era New York City.
Catapult
The Baddest Bitch in the Room: A Memoir by Sophia Chang (Sept. 8, $26, ISBN 978-1-64622-009-0). “Music manager Chang, who’s worked with the Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest, shares life stories in a candid memoir about hip-hop, kung fu, and being a ‘hustler,’” according to PW’s review.
Celadon
When Harry Met Minnie: A True Story of Love and Friendship by Martha Teichner (Sept. 15, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-250-21253-5). CBS Sunday Morning News correspondent Teichner writes of the friendship that developed with fellow dog owner Carol when the two women introduced their two Bull Terriers—Harry and Minnie.
Andy Cohen
Bevelations: Lessons from a Mutha, Auntie, Bestie by Bevy Smith (Nov. 10, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-250-31178-8) shares the events of Smith’s midlife crisis when she abandoned her executive position at Rolling Stone and her high-life lifestyle only to become a host on Bravo’s Fashion Queens. 75,000-copy announced first printing.
Crown
True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman (Sept. 29, $28, ISBN 978-0-593-13571-6) explores the life of Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee, responsible for the creation of the Avengers, Black Panther, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and the X-Men.
Dutton
The Captain: A Memoir by David Wright and Anthony Dicomo (Oct. 13, $28, ISBN 978-1-5247-4605-6). Former Mets third baseman Wright—nicknamed “Captain America”—relates the hard work that eventually led him to become a seven-time MLB All-Star.
Ecco
Grounded: A Senator’s Lessons on Winning Back Rural America by Jon Tester (Sept. 15, $29.99, ISBN 978-0-06-297748-9). Montana’s three-term Democratic senator recounts his early political ambitions and explains how Democrats can reconnect with red-state voters.
DEY STREET
Reclaiming Her Time: The Power of Maxine Waters by Helena Andrews-Dyer and R. Eric Thomas (Sept. 29, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-299203-1) looks at the life of Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the U.S. representative for California’s 43rd district.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Silences So Deep: Solitude, Music, Alaska by John Luther Adams (Sept. 22, $25, ISBN 978-0-374-26462-8). Composer Adams describes his summer in the Alaskan wilderness in 1975 as a CalArts grad who contemplates creating art in a landscape threatened by climate change.
Feiwel & Friends
Blood: A Memoir by the Jonas Brothers by Joe Jonas et al. (Oct. 20, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-250-25742-0). The Jonas Brothers detail their rise to stardom, breakup, and reunion. 500,000-copy announced first printing.
Flatiron
El Jefe: The Stalking of Chapo Guzmán by Alan Feuer (Aug. 25, $28.99, ISBN 978-1-250-25450-4). New York Times criminal justice reporter Feuer draws from his coverage of the trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in this account of the rise and fall of the Sinaloa drug cartel boss.
Forever
Sex/Life: 44 Chapters About 4 Men by BB Easton (Jan. 5, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5387-1833-9). Easton, a school psychologist, looks at female sexuality and the events that changed her marriage in this memoir, which is being adapted as a Netflix series. 60,000-copy announced first printing.
Grand Central
She Will Rise: Becoming a Warrior in the Battle for True Equality by Katie Hill (Aug. 18, $28, ISBN 978-1-5387-3700-2). Former U.S. representative Katie Hill continues her mission for women’s equality in this memoir to be published on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment. 100,000-copy announced first printing.
Grove
All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks and Kevin Carr O’Leary (Dec. 1, $26, ISBN 978-0-8021-5724-9) captures the 1980s AIDS epidemic and tells of Burks’s efforts to help the many afflicted men in Arkansas, which eventually led to her advising then-governor Bill Clinton on AIDS.
Hachette
Confess by Rob Halford (Sept. 29, $28, ISBN 978-0-306-87494-9). Judas Priest frontman Halford writes of his sexuality and struggles with addiction in a memoir publishing to coincide with the band’s 50th anniversary.
Elway: A Relentless Life by Jason Cole (Sept. 15, $28, ISBN 978-0-316-45577-0) chronicles the life of John Elway, highlighting his career from Stanford University to becoming a Hall of Fame quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champ.
Harper
Mozart: The Reign of Love by Jan Swafford (Oct. 20, $40, ISBN 978-0-06-243357-2). A composer and biographer of Beethoven and Brahms digs into the life of Mozart.
What Becomes a Legend Most: The Biography of Richard Avedon by Philip Gefter (Oct. 13, $35, ISBN 978-0-06-244271-0). Critic Gefter takes readers into the life of fashion photographer Richard Avedon and his era-defining work in Harper’s Bazaar, the New Yorker, and Vogue.
HarperOne
I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds by Sunny Hostin (Sept. 22, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-06-295082-6). The View cohost and ABC News correspondent Hostin recalls her rise from growing up half Puerto Rican and half African-American in a South Bronx housing project to becoming an assistant U.S. attorney and TV journalist.
Lawrence Hill
Revolution or Death: The Life of Eldridge Cleaver by Justin Gifford (Oct. 20, $28.99, ISBN 978-1-61373-911-2) details the life of the black revolutionary, exploring his audacious dreams and spiritual transformations.
Holt
Let Love Rule by Lenny Kravitz (Oct. 6, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-250-11308-5). Grammy Award–winning musician Kravitz writes of his early inspirations and offers a look at his private life. 150,000-copy announced first printing.
Knopf
Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark (Oct. 6, $40, ISBN 978-0-307-96116-7) features new material that sheds light on the influence of Plath’s father on her work, her marriage to Ted Hughes, and the events of the weekend of her death.
Little, Brown/Patterson
Last Days of John Lennon by James Patterson (Dec. 7, $30, ISBN 978-0-316-42906-1). Bestselling thriller writer Patterson turns his attention to the 1980 murder of John Lennon at the hands of Mark David Chapman.
Morrow
Everything Beautiful in Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss by Jenna Bush Hager (Sept. 15, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-296062-7). Today show cohost Bush Hager, the former first daughter and granddaughter, reminisces about her grandparents and the lessons they taught her in this follow-up to Sisters First.
Norton
Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck by William Souder (Oct. 13, $32, ISBN 978-0-393-29226-8) presents a “comprehensive, eloquent exploration of the life and career of John Steinbeck,” according to PW’s starred review.
Young Rembrandt: A Biography by Onno Blom, trans. by Beverley Jackson (Sept. 8, $30, ISBN 978-0-393-53179-4), sheds light on the enigmatic life of Rembrandt.
One World
Dog Flowers: A Memoir by Danielle Geller (Jan. 12, $27, ISBN 978-1-984820-39-6). Librarian and archivist Geller returns to her home on a Navajo reservation to look into her family’s history.
Pantheon
Magritte: A Life by Alexander Danchev and Sarah Whitfield (Nov. 10, $45, ISBN 978-0-307-90819-3). Danchey, a biographer of Braque and Cézanne, presents the first major biography of René Magritte (1898–1967). Danchey died as he was completing the book, and Whitfield took over the project.
Penguin Press
Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times by David S. Reynolds (Sept. 29, $45, ISBN 978-1-59420-604-7). The Bancroft Prize–winning biographer of Walt Whitman turns his attention to Abraham Lincoln and the cultural influences that shaped him.
Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger: A Memoir by Lisa Donovan (Aug. 4, $28, ISBN 978-0-525-56094-4). “Pastry chef and James Beard Award–winning essayist Donovan writes of her life in the restaurant industry in this feisty confessional,” said PW’s review.
Princeton Univ.
Stalin: Passage to Revolution by Ronald Grigor Suny (Oct. 6, $39.95, ISBN 978-0-691-18203-2) focuses on Stalin’s early years, from his birth in 1878 to the Russian Revolution.
Random House
JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917–1956 by Fredrik Logevall (Sept. 8, $40, ISBN 978-0-8129-9713-2). In the first of a two-part biography, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Logevall explores the first 39 years of JFK’s life, and what was happening in the country at that time.
Scribner
She Come by It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh (Oct. 13, $22, ISBN 978-1-982157-28-9). “In this affectionate and astute cultural study, Smarsh...shines a deserving light on Dolly Parton’s struggles and path to becoming the queen of country music,” said PW’s review.
She Writes
Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table: Book Two, Nord-Pas-De-Calais, Normandy, Brittany, Loire and Auvergne: Savoring the Olde Ways by Carole Bumpus (Aug. 18, $16.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-63152-896-5) continues the author’s culinary memoir of traveling through France, as she heads north from Paris, attending food festivals and sampling local dishes.
Simon & Schuster
Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise by Scott Eyman (Oct. 20, $35, ISBN 978-1-5011-9211-1). Celebrity biographer Eyman crafts the life of Archibald Leach, the man who became Hollywood star Cary Grant.
Untitled by Jerry Seinfeld (Oct. 6, $35, ISBN 978-1-982112-69-1). In his first book in 25 years, comedian Seinfeld collects his best material from his four-decade-long career.
Soho
This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear (Nov. 3, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-64129-269-6). The bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs series reflects on growing up in Kent, England, working on farms, and her parents’ lives during WWII.
SPORTS PUBLISHING
Football’s Fearless Activists: How Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, and Fellow Athletes Stood Up to the NFL and President Trump by Mike Freeman (Sept. 1, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-68358-350-9). The NFL columnist for the Bleacher Report interviews players who peacefully called for change and argues that the outcry was unwarranted and anti-American.
Twelve
New York’s Finest by Mike Daly (Dec. 1, $30, ISBN 978-1-5387-6433-6) is the story of NYPD officer Steven McDonald, who helped make New York City safer but was shot and paralyzed in Central Park in 1986. 75,000-copy announced first printing.
Univ. of Nebraska
The Cap: How Larry Fleischer and David Stern Built the Modern NBA by Joshua Mendelsohn (Oct. 1, $32.95, ISBN 978-1-4962-1878-0) charts the ways the NBA was transformed in the 1980s by the salary cap, which was instituted thanks to the work of the soon-to-be NBA commissioner and Larry Fleisher, as general counsel for the NBA’s Players’ Association.
Univ. of Notre Dame
John Berryman and Robert Giroux: A Publishing Friendship by Patrick Samway (Oct. 31, $45, ISBN 978-0-268-10841-0) examines the friendship of two 20th-century literary giants: Pulitzer-winning poet and Shakespeare scholar John Berryman and Robert Giroux, editor-in-chief of Harcourt, Brace and Co. and publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Viking
Family in Six Tones: A Refugee Mother, an American Daughter by Lan Cao and Harlan Margaret Van Cao (Sept. 1, $28, ISBN 978-1-984878-16-8). Novelist Lan Cao, a refugee from Vietnam, and her American-born teenage daughter explore their struggles with each other and share their views on being hyphenated Americans.
Yale Univ.
Stanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker by David Mikics (Aug. 18, $26, ISBN 978-0-300-22440-5) surveys the work of Stanley Kubrick, with examinations of such movies as 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove, and The Shining.
This article has been updated to remove a title that has moved out of the fall 2020 season.
