I think I fell out of a coconut tree, or at least, that’s how I felt after reading Kamala Harris’ memoir, “107 Days.” The book followed her hasty 2024 presidential campaign, and given the choppy writing, I wish the campaign were even shorter. With an abundance of random tangents, complaints, and oversaturated storytelling, it’s clear that this was not the approach Harris should’ve taken.

Considering the title, I assumed the book would only cover the 107 days of Harris’ campaign, when in reality, it confusingly referenced the entire span of her life, from memories of her mother to her time as a California prosecutor. These flashbacks are necessary to understand the rest of her campaign motivations, which is exactly why the structure of the book was entirely wrong.

To convey this message effectively, Harris should’ve taken after nearly every president before her and written an actual memoir. Had the events been arranged in a logical chronological order, it might have been comprehensive and impactful to the reader instead of an influx of poorly relayed information.

That wasn’t the only problem. The book focuses on her defunct campaign, which was destroyed by a litany of others’ poor decisions, notably those of Joe Biden. Since the angle of the book is how she got absolutely screwed over, the book comes off as a list of complaints organized into every day of the campaign instead of a story of her life, which makes it harder to sympathize when reading. This is yet another problem that would’ve been solved had her campaign been reduced to a simple chapter or section.

My main takeaway from reading the book is this: Harris should’ve stuck to writing policies instead. Or at least a traditional memoir.

This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Nov. 6, 2025