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MODERN FAMILY

Name: MODERN FAMILY
Author: Marc Freeman
ISBN: 978-1-250-26003-1

by Marc Freeman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2020

A glossy look behind the scenes and a satisfyingly ample memento for fans.

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Dozens of those responsible for making the popular ensemble comedy, which ended in 2020, reflect on their experience in this amiable account. In his first book, journalist Freeman assembles excerpts from interviews with the show's cast, writers, directors, production team, guest stars, and two showrunners into brief chapters that roughly follow the show from conception to conclusion, leaving plenty of room for detours along the way. Those looking for dirt or gossipy details won't find them here: Most of the interviewees are polite and cautious, happy to offer up amusing anecdotes but seemingly eager to leave professional bridges unburned. However, that doesn't mean that dramatic tension is lacking. Most of it comes from the long-simmering conflict between showrunners Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, who, a few episodes into the series, realized that their narrative styles and goals were so incompatible that their only solution was to take turns masterminding the episodes, which they continued to do—not without resentment and writerly feedback—for the duration of the series. While the focus is squarely on Modern Family and its cast and crew, readers curious about the making of TV shows in general, and network sitcoms in particular, will find plenty to interest them, including the process of casting a show, the mechanics of a “table read,” the construction of a temporary set, and the designing of a title sequence. Freeman occasionally dips a toe into controversy, as in a chapter featuring some of the show's female writers, who made up a very small percentage of the writing staff, reflecting on their less-than-ideal experiences. As Freeman notes, the show “gained an industry reputation…for letting women writers go or not asking them back.” Though some might wish for a stronger editing hand in chapters in which the same point is made by several different interviewees, true aficionados may be happy for the excess. A glossy look behind the scenes and a satisfyingly ample memento for fans.

Pub Date: May 19, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-250-26003-1

Page Count: 528

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: April 14, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020

Categories:

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS & CELEBRITY | GENERAL NONFICTION

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Awards & Accolades

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45

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New York Times Bestseller

107 DAYS

by Kamala Harris ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 2025

A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.

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Awards & Accolades

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New York Times Bestseller

An insider’s chronicle of a pivotal presidential campaign.

Several months into the mounting political upheaval of Donald Trump’s second term and following a wave of bestselling political exposés, most notably Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s Original Sin on Joe Biden’s health and late decision to step down, former Vice President Harris offers her own account of the consequential months surrounding Biden’s withdrawal and her swift campaign for the presidency. Structured as brief chapters with countdown headers from 107 days to Election Day, the book recounts the campaign’s daily rigors: vetting a running mate, navigating back-to-back rallies, preparing for the convention and the debate with Trump, and deflecting obstacles in the form of both Trump’s camp and Biden’s faltering team. Harris aims to set the record straight on issues that have remained hotly debated. While acknowledging Biden’s advancing decline, she also highlights his foreign-policy steadiness: “His years of experience in foreign policy clearly showed….He was always focused, always commander in chief in that room.” More blame is placed on his inner circle, especially Jill Biden, whom Harris faults for pushing him beyond his limits—“the people who knew him best, should have realized that any campaign was a bridge too far.” Throughout, she highlights her own qualifications and dismisses suggestions that an open contest might have better served the party: “If they thought I was down with a mini primary or some other half-baked procedure, I was quick to disabuse them.” Facing Trump’s increasingly unhinged behavior, Harris never openly doubts her ability to confront him. Yet she doesn’t fully persuade the reader that she had the capacity to counter his dominance, suggesting instead that her defeat stemmed from a lack of time—a theme underscored by the urgency of the book’s title. If not entirely sanguine about the future, she maintains a clear-eyed view of the damage already done: “Perhaps so much damage that we will have to re-create our government…something leaner, swifter, and much more efficient.”

A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025

ISBN: 9781668211656

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025

Categories:

- BOOK REVIEW
SUPERHEROES ARE EVERYWHERE
by Kamala Harris ; illustrated by Mechal Renee Roe

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TRUTHS WE HOLD
by Kamala Harris

- PERSPECTIVES
6 Nonfiction Books By and About Political Players

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POEMS & PRAYERS

by Matthew McConaughey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 2025

It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.

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A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”

McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.

It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.