Obama surprises fan with a live reading of his latest book
By Joe Colquhoun on Monday, November 23, 2020
Former President Obama surprised a fan with a live book reading during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Joyce Taylor from Temple Hills, Md., thought she was watching a prerecorded video of Obama reading his memoir “A Promised Land,” which was released on Tuesday.
Instead, Obama began reading the book over a video call, and then made direct references to her as he was reading. Taylor was left speechless.
“Being the president takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice,” Obama began. “But one of the most rewarding parts of the job was traveling these parts of the United States and meeting the great people that make up this country.”
Obama then slipped in a personal reference to Taylor being a retired auditor.
“From farmers in Iowa to auto workers in Detroit, to retired auditors from Temple Hills, Md.,” he said. “The retired auditors are actually my favourite. They’re always coming up to me and saying, ‘Oh my god! I love you. My name is Joyce Taylor.’ ”
Obama then greeted Taylor, who could be seen holding back tears and thanked her for supporting him. He also promised to send her a signed copy of his memoir.
“A Promised Land” set a first-day sales record for Penguin Random House with nearly 890,000 copies sold, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. The book is on pace to become the bestselling presidential memoir in modern history.
