Keisha Lance Bottoms’ memoir charts the evolution of a public servant
Publishing a memoir in the run-up to a political campaign is a tool that some politicians use to curry favor with constituents. It allows them to shape the narrative around their legacy and agenda, and it provides the opportunity to portray themselves as more relatable than the public image they project in speeches and news conferences.
Originally published in 1995, President Barack Obama’s “Dreams from My Father” was reissued in 2004 before his presidential bid. Mitt Romney published “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness” ahead of his 2012 presidential campaign. And California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s rumored to be eyeing the 2028 presidential race, published his memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry,” earlier this year.
Keisha Lance Bottom’s “The Rough Side of the Mountain” (Mariner, $29.99), publishing April 21, fits the mold. The former mayor of Atlanta is running for governor of Georgia, and her book is well-timed for her campaign.
That’s not to discount the fact that Bottoms has led an extraordinary life worthy of examination, and “The Rough Side of the Mountain” contains plenty of compelling moments. But although the book is labeled a memoir, it lacks the self-reflection one has come to expect from the genre. Instead, it reads more like an autobiography ― a chronological account of her life from cradle to the present, ending with bullet points of her political accomplishments.
The book opens with a heightened moment of drama: the arrest of her father Major Lance, a moderately successful R&B singer, for drug charges. The image Bottoms paints of her 8-year-old self sitting on the couch in a home ransacked by the police, waiting for her mother to return from work after her father was hauled to jail, is haunting.
Her father’s arrest, his 10-year prison sentence and her parents’ subsequent divorce were defining moments in Bottoms’ life. But she portrays her childhood as mostly happy and loving, surrounded by extended family in the Vine City-English Avenue community before they dispersed throughout the city as their prospects grew. Additional childhood challenges, including a handsy teenage neighbor and a “yearslong battle with bulimia and anorexia,” are briefly mentioned and dismissed.
Bottoms’ leadership skills emerged early. She was a high achiever in school who routinely got A’s and tried out for everything — sports, chorus, band, class queen. She recalls her mother threatening to throw away her neon orange safety patrol belt and sash if she didn’t stop wearing it around the house and bossing everyone around.
As an adult, one success seemingly has followed another: law school, marriage, motherhood, prosecutor, a judgeship, eight years on the Atlanta City Council, mayor of Atlanta and adviser to President Joe Biden. At 56, she appears perfectly poised for the next big thing.
One of the book’s most memorable moments is the detailed account of the day violent protests broke out in Atlanta after the murder of George Floyd. Then mayor, Bottoms held an impromptu news conference, accompanied by T.I. and Killer Mike, in which she pleaded with protesters not to destroy the city.
“If you love this city — this city that has had a legacy of Black mayors and Black police chiefs and people who care about this city, where more than 50% of the business owners in metro Atlanta are minority business owners — if you care about this city, then go home,” she said.
It was a heartfelt appeal that went viral and is credited by many, along with the enforcement of a 9 p.m. curfew, of quelling the violence. But it’s the way the events are juxtaposed with her domestic duties earlier in the evening — cooking fish and grits for her family, fretting over the safety of her politically active teenage son — that will resonate with readers.
Following that leadership high point was a devastating low. Bottoms expresses regret for her handling of the subsequent protests over the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks in a Wendy’s parking lot, where an 8-year-old girl was shot and killed.
“We will never know if tearing down the Wendy’s would have made a difference,” Bottoms writes. “Hindsight gives us the illusion of second chances that life doesn’t. The death of precious Secoriea Turner will always break my heart.”
Whether or not “The Rough Side of the Mountain” sways voters in November remains to be seen. But as a first-person account of the evolution of a public servant who rises to the occasion during a time of crisis, it succeeds.
44th and 3rd Bookseller presents Bottoms in conversation with Kandi Burruss on April 23 at The Gathering Place. For details, go to 44thand3rdbookseller.com.
Suzanne Van Atten is a columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She may be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.
About the Author
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
