Don Lemon’s Latest Book Tops The New York Times Best Seller List
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CNN anchor Don Lemon’s new book, This Is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism earned the number one spot on the New York Times’ nonfiction best-seller list this week.
After debuting atop the list last week — the first week the book was eligible, as the text was released on March 16 — Lemon has maintained his ranking on the list’s top spot.
Lemon took to Twitter last week to celebrate the news, sharing a video of him and his adorable pups:
#ThisIsTheFire reached number ONE on the @nytimes best sellers list. I cannot thank you all enough for supporting.
If you haven’t already, get your copy today: https://t.co/UFsyI7N2zS pic.twitter.com/bRE9w2Vir6
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) March 24, 2021
“I want to thank everyone who inspired me to write this book,” Lemon said in the video. “All the people who bought it, all the support, and mostly to the people who have having the conversations that I talk about in this book. It’s very, very important.”
When announcing the book in January, Lemon explained that the book is meant to “help heal America,” noting that it was inspired by James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time:
I truly believe my new book “This Is The Fire”will help heal America. These are the honest, fearless conversations I have with my friends & family about racism. It’s inspired by James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. Please click this link to preorder. https://t.co/MFcwYzbM3E
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) January 19, 2021
“I truly believe my new book ‘This Is The Fire’ will help heal America,” Lemon wrote. “These are the honest, fearless conversations I have with my friends & family about racism. It’s inspired by James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time.”
In a recent review, The New York Times’ Wesley Lowery praised Lemon for “hosting” a “national dialogue about race in the United States.”
“His coverage of race is intertwined with his personal identity: Lemon testifies to his own traumas for the benefit of the viewer’s understanding, speaks racial truths painfully obvious to Black viewers yet shocking to some white viewers, and urges the audience to keep up as he walks through the basics and begs his viewers to believe their veracity,” he added. “Thus is the torturous job of the Black journalist working for the white media.”
