Myriad options await the modern post-president; oil painting, traveling the world on Jeffrey Epstein’s jet, and part-time criminal defendant, just to name a few. But Barack Obama’s unique post-presidency might be summed up in one word: content. In 2018 the former president and wife Michelle, already two of the highest-paid authors in the world, announced a lucrative Netflix deal to “cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples.” This ethos has produced shows such as “Waffles + Mochi,” a follow-up to the First Lady’s school lunch overhaul that brought baked chicken fingers to my high school cafeteria, and “Our Great National Parks,” a docuseries in which even impending natural catastrophe can’t spoil Barry’s soothing narration.
Yet Obama’s most anticipated act of content curation remains his End of Year lists, posted on Medium in between official statements on deceased world leaders and ongoing conflict zones. The book list is known as a major boon for authors (and publishers), spawning a cottage industry of speculation, praise, and ridicule. In April, an Esquire headline claimed to go “Behind the Scenes of Barack Obama’s Reading Lists.” The closest their investigation came was a former deputy press secretary explaining that the chosen books are “a reflection of the inputs [President Obama] has... These lists wouldn’t be as salient or get as much traction if it wasn’t coming from him directly.”
Salience and traction indeed; from Republicans triggered by the yearly reminder of their own presidents’ illiteracy to progressives nauseated by Obama’s milquetoast legacy, the list has itself become content, colorful graphics packaged for sharability. Amidst all the fanfare, skeptical readers may question the secret sauce of Obama’s recommendations. Does the ex-president really read a demographically representative sample of each year’s acclaimed literary fiction? Does an intern pull a random assortment of titles from major award lists and the NYT’s best of? By studying past entries, could I discover the secret sauce of Obama’s recommendations and pick this year’s list?
I combed through the data - six years, three publishing platforms, 85 titles (and that’s not including the annual summer installment). Patterns emerged: roughly half fiction, a sprinkle of memoir and biography, bonus categories “For the Sports Fans” and “For Hoops Fans.” The lists are particular enough to be predictable, so without further ado:
In nonfiction look out for POVERTY, BY AMERICA by Matthew Desmond, a Princeton sociologist who has previously appeared on Obama’s list. Desmond’s new book argues that inequality comes from not only structural defects but also conscious decisions by the rich, like holding a star-studded Martha’s Vineyard birthday bash during a global pandemic. KING by Jonathan Eig is the first new biography of the activist and civil rights leader in decades; at 688 pages it’s not quite as long as Obama’s A PROMISED LAND, but will still look impressive on the subway. The man who once said in his State of the Union that he has no more campaigns to run because he “won both of them” is just petty enough to include ROMNEY, McKay Coppins’ intimate portrait of Obama’s old foe. “Everyone alive is either canceled or about to be canceled,” according to Claire Dederer in MONSTERS, her treatise on Nabokov, Polanski, and separating the art from the artist that generated just the type of literary Twitter controversy Obama would unwittingly wade into. And like any man, the former president’s thoughts are never too far from the Roman Empire, a perfect excuse to recommend EMPEROR OF ROME by Mary Beard.
As for fiction, Obama and his handlers tend to hue closely to the Anglophone awards - either he influences the juries or the other way around. Expect to see PROPHET SONG by Paul Lynch and BLACKOUTS by Justin Torres, the respective winners of the Booker Prize and National Book Awards, as well as THIS OTHER EDEN by Paul Harding, the only novel on both shortlists. Zadie Smith’s historical epic THE FRAUD feels like a shoo-in, given Smith and Obama share their status as young firebrands turned symbols of the cultural establishment. Lauren Groff and James McBride look to become the first three-time Obama listers with THE VASTER WILDS and THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE; other repeat authors have included Amor Towles, Emily St. John Mandel, Patrick Radden Keefe, and, of course, Michelle Obama. Finally, the former president could invite some self-reflection with THE DELUGE by Stephen Markley and LAND OF MILK AND HONEY by C Pam Zhang, ambitious, futuristic novels exploring the effects of Obama’s half-baked climate legacy.
Obama’s lists are made up of mostly good and undeniably conventional books. Obama’s tastes are a reliable, mainstream, highbrow signal, like a New Yorker tote bag or a Prius with a Yes We Can bumper sticker. Perhaps they are focus-group tested. The strength of the lists is the strength of his brand more broadly: a reasonable, intelligent, friend who’s not looking to surprise you. And if your holiday season is too busy to indulge in Obama’s literary guidance, don’t worry - he does movies too, and I hear there are big things afoot at Netflix.