Please, Please, I Do Not Want This Book

Why not spoil the day and my will to live before noon, the universe seems to be saying. The heavens have spit out the news that Pete Souza, the White House photographer for the Obama and Reagan administrations, is doing a book called SHADE: A TALE OF TWO PRESIDENTS, which will feature side-by-side photos of Barack Obama and Donald Trump to make some sort of #Resistance point.

ABC News reported the announcement on Wednesday morning, tweeting a statement from the publishing house Little, Brown. The book will be a “portrait in contrasts,” in case you somehow missed those giant flashing lights overhead.

As former Jezebel writer and Shade Court Judge Kara Brown ruled long ago, what Souza is doing is NOT SHADE. So calling this book Shade is perpetuating a lie.

The statement cites Souza’s rise as a resistance fighter largely on Instagram, where he’s gotten famous by posting smarmy captions from his Obama archives on days when President Trump seems to have done something particularly offensive to our collective sensibilities. Among them: the Obamas hiking in our rugged wilderness with the caption “This land is your land. This land is my land” and a crowd of people rapturously laughing at something Obama said “that we would all consider humorous.” Wow.

Why does this book need to exist? Because in our current, dark moment, we are so desperate for a “real” and dignified leader that we’re looking back to romanticize the Obama years. More importantly, there’s “fan demand” for such a book! Enjoy your nostalgia porn while you can.