Man of Tomorrow: The Relentless Life of Jerry Brown

In this overblown hagiography, journalist Newton (coauthor, Worthy Fights) views the life of four-term California governor Jerry Brown through the lens of the state’s post-WWII cultural, economic, and political upheavals. Charting Brown’s path from 18-year-old seminary student to Yale Law School graduate to governor (from 1975 to 1983 and again from 2011 to 2019) and presidential candidate (in 1976, 1980, and 1992), Newton highlights Brown’s “lifelong unwillingness to accept convention” and “the Oedipal impulses that connected and divided” him and his father, two-term California governor Pat Brown. In interviews conducted between 2016 and 2019, Brown reveals little about the rationale behind his career choices (which also included stints as mayor of Oakland and California attorney general) and stances on issues such as nuclear power, criminal justice reform, real estate development vs. environmental protections, and “fiscal responsibility.” Newton fills in the gaps with colorful sketches of California history, including the Manson murders and the rise of Silicon Valley, and exhaustive details about budget proposals and statewide ballot measures, but doesn’t get far beyond the shallow assessment that Brown’s mix of conservative and liberal principles makes him “thoroughly and completely his own person.” Readers hoping for deeper insight into California’s longest-serving governor will be disappointed. (May)