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Young Man in a Hurry
  • Published: 24 February 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529991949
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304
Categories:

Young Man in a Hurry

A Memoir of Discovery

  • Gavin Newsom
Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
10 Mar 2026
EBook
24 Feb 2026
Hardback
24 Mar 2026
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From California Governor Gavin Newsom (and a possible contender in the race for Democratic candidate in the 2028 Presidential election) comes an intimate and poignant account of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics.

California Governor Gavin Newsom's intimate and poignant account of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics

‘Go slow,’ his political elders advised him, but Gavin Newsom has never known such a speed. For Newsom, the California Dream is what lured his father’s family from Ireland, six generations ago. His great-great-grandfather, a cop, walked a beat in San Francisco, where almost 150 years later Newsom would be elected as mayor.

Newsom has never lived anywhere but California. His childhood was spent being tugged between two worlds: his mother worked three jobs in order to care for her children while his father, a close friend of the Getty family, brought Newsom into a world of wealth and connections. But the vantage point was valuable: he inherited his mother’s perseverance and his father’s reverence of California – not only its wildness, but its opportunity.

In Young Man in a Hurry, Newsom traces the forces that have defined his ambitions as a politician. As mayor of San Francisco, he made waves when he violated state law in order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He launched bold efforts to counter climate change, improve mental health care, and enhance gun safety. Elected as governor and entering office into immediate hyper-partisan headwinds from Washington, DC, Newsom has constantly and consistently stuck his neck out.

Here, he reflects on the long journey that ultimately shaped him into one of the most recognizable and accomplished elected officials in America.
  • Published: 24 February 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529991949
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304
Categories:

Praise for Young Man in a Hurry

Surprisingly good … an unusually readable campaign tract … colourful … the last chapter contains an astonishing account of Newsom’s relationship with Donald Trump

UnHerd

[Newsom is] self-aware, battle-tested and versed in confrontation with Trump… [Young Man in a Hurry] make[s] for a colourful read

The Times

Political memoirs ... often read like chronically verbose campaign leaflets. Less so, Newsom's ... Young Man in a Hurry is a tale of two childhoods. One was spent in Marin, north of San Francisco making his own mac-n-cheese for dinner while his mother was at work. The other was with the Gettys ... He's honest ... You believe him

New Statesman

Few readers of Young Man in a Hurry will come away thinking of its author as the 'Prince Gavin' of his rivals' caricature. Instead they will see a man ... whose story is far more complex, and interesting, than the haircut and smile would have you believe – one whose life might just have equipped him to win the most powerful office in the world

Jonathan Freedland, Guardian

[Gavin Newsom is] somebody who might one day be the President of the United States … He’s somebody who’s got a fascinating childhood, then made it pretty big in business ... and is now making a difference in the arguments about what the Democrats should do to take on Donald Trump … His analysis of Trump is spot on … Very clever … The book [Young Man in a Hurry] is very, very open … and that’s the lesson he’s taking [from] this sort of new way of new politics that we’re in … Terrific

The Rest Is Politics Leading

Young Man in a Hurry is better than most political confessionals ... It is part family history, part accidental ethnography of San Francisco's upper crust

Economist

After a decade of Trump bluster, bullying and boasting, hearing Gavin Newsom ... discuss his acute dyslexia and anxiety as both a boy and teenager is refreshing, whether you agree with his politics or not

Independent

PRAISE FOR CITIZENVILLE: Gavin Newsom is a clear-eyed public servant who has never been satisfied with the status quo. Citizenville makes a fascinating case for a more engaged government, transformed to meet the challenges and possibilities of the 21st century, and where technology brings the critical tools of our democracy closer to its citizens than ever before

President Bill Clinton

PRAISE FOR CITIZENVILLE: Gavin Newsom is one of the most tech-savvy elected officials in the United States. With Citizenville, he provides a blueprint for a government that can tap into the creativity, innovation and transparency that define digital and social media, and makes the case for using all the tools at our disposal to improve our government – and our lives

Arianna Huffington, founder and editor-in-chief, The Huffington Post