Andrew Cuomo had no qualms on writing a book about how he dealt with the pandemic when it was still going on.
It’s called American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic, and it came out in October of last year, just as the weather in New York, the state he governs, turned cold, cases began to rise again, and vaccinations had a catastrophic initial roll-out. And that was before he was embroiled in two big scandals, one involving him and his staff tampering with data on the number of nursing home deaths, and the other involving charges of sexual assault involving several younger women.
In the wake of the controversies, Penguin Random House revealed that the book’s promotion would be halted. Furthermore, the publishing behemoth told The New York Times that there were “no plans” to reprint or reissue the book in paperback. They cited as a motivating factor not in both cases but “the ongoing investigation into N.Y.S. reporting of Covid-related fatalities in nursing homes.”
American Crisis was hurried into print, just seven months into a once-in-a-generation pandemic that is about to become one year old as of this writing. The book, as Penguin Random House statement, put it, found him elaborating “in his own voice” about “the decision making that shaped his political policy.”
Cuomo, who has always been a divisive figure, especially among New York City residents, won praise for his calm and rational regular press conferences in the early months of the pandemic. Even before the twin scandals, his popularity had deteriorated, prompting others to call for his resignation. Furthermore, long before the charges were made, the book’s sales plunged. According to NPD BookScan, between January 23 and February 27, Cuomo’s tome sold a mere 400 copies.
