In 2008, we lived through a spellbinding presidential election. And now we can spend the rest of our lives reading about it.
Barack Obama hasn't been president a week yet, but the books about his election and his administration are starting to pile up. Presses are rolling. Agents and publishers are signing book deals. Bookstores are setting up display tables full of election memorabilia, in hardcover and paperback.
Here's a look at just a few of the first round of election '08 books:
A Long Time Coming
by Evan Thomas and the staff of
Newsweek
PublicAffairs / 256 pages / $22.95
Evan Thomas, Newsweek's editor-at-large, wove this story together using material from several of the magazine's reporters. As in previous elections, Newsweek reporters traveled with the campaigns and got access to juicy details - all on the condition that they wouldn't publish anything until after the election.
How Barack Obama Won
by Chuck Todd and Sheldon Gawiser
Vintage / 272 pages / $12.95
Chuck Todd, NBC News political director and senior White House correspondent, and Sheldon Gawiser, a senior poll analyst for NBC News, give a wonky state-by-state breakdown of where America's presidential votes went.
How Obama Won
by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
BookSurge / 120 pages / $13.95
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a journalist and political analyst who often focuses on race and social issues, tells the story of the election. The analysis of the campaign trail, full of details you've probably forgotten, puts the race into a larger perspective.
Barack Inc.: Winning Business Lessons of the Obama Campaign
by Barry Libert and Rick Faulk
FT Press / 192 pages / $20
Barry Libert and Rick Faulk, who run a software solutions company, look at how business leaders can run their companies the way Obama ran his successful campaign.
What Obama Means ... For Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future
by Jabari Asim
William Morrow / 240 pages / $21.99
Jabari Asim, editor of the NAACP's magazine The Crisis, explores how the nation's history and culture affected Obama's candidacy - and what his presidency represents.
The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama
by Gwen Ifill
Doubleday / 288 pages / $24.95
Gwen Ifill, a former Baltimore Sun reporter who hosts the PBS show Washington Week and is a correspondent for The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, looks at how black leadership has shifted since the civil rights movement, making Obama's election possible.