Why Literary Elites Love POC Pain

The first stamp of approval I see on Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s National Book Award-nominated debut novel, Chain-Gang All-Stars, is the “Read with Jenna” sticker just below the author’s name. Jenna is Jenna Bush Hager, and to receive her approval guarantees that one’s book will be read by hundreds of thousands of her book-club members. Hager might not be Oprah, but her selections—just like Reese Witherspoon’s—are a game changer. The affluent white-lady demographic—Hager is one of their queens—is the one you want to solidify if you are an author.