Penguin Random House has slammed the brakes on sales and promotions for a forthcoming book by journo Ross Barkan, who was recently fired from New York Magazine over dozens of instances of plagiarism.
The tome praising Mayor Zohran Mamdani – who counted Barkan as one of his biggest fans in NYC journalism – had been set for an October release.
But the book, titled “The Revolutionary: Zohran Mamdani and the Remaking of American Politics,” has vanished from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart’s websites, as the Washington Post first reported.
While pages for the book were gone from Amazon and other sites, it could still be found in online archives, WaPo noted.
Penguin Random House declined to comment to The Post. The Post has sought comment from Barkan.
The book had been billed as “a behind-the-scenes, deeply reported window into Zohran Mamdani’s campaign and early days as Mayor of New York, and the impact his socialist platform will have on a local and national scale — from a New York magazine journalist with unparalleled access.”
Barkan – who regularly boasted that Mamdani was his campaign manager for his own failed run for local office back in 2018 – made frequent mention of his book in recent weeks.
“I spent several hours interviewing Mamdani and spoke with more than two dozen people, including intimates in his orbit, allies, and foes,” the ink-stained wretch wrote on his Substack in July.
“I spoke to Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon. It was an effort I’m proud of, and one that took many intense days and nights. Now the edits are (almost) done and the book, The Revolutionary, is headed to bookstores this October.”
In the blog post, he went on to try to sell the volume to “my sizable readership that is either Mamdani-skeptical or thinks this will be another boring book that mindlessly cheerleads for its subject.”
The halt to the book rollout came just days after New York Magazine axed Barkan for ripping off other writers an astonishing 67 times.
Barkan showed little contrition for the scandal, and even went so far as to plug “a new column for The Nation” – but the lefty publication said Monday it had no such plans and was reviewing his past work, indicated he could lose his freelancing gig there, too.
The scandal has earned Barkan plenty of jeers on X, with NY1 political commentator Gerson Borrero writing: “I’m old enough to remember the reaction to the plagiarism charges against @nytimes journalist Jayson Blair. There was no empathy or mercy for the Black journalist in 2003.
“He was forced to leave the biz. I would be disgusted by any grace afforded to Ross Barkan for his actions.”
A handful of left-leaning supporters puzzlingly came to Barkan’s defense, even though plagiarism is widely considered the cardinal sin of journalism.
“Ross Barkan could use a heaping serving of humility and embrace the virtue of a true apology. He made mistakes although far more misdemeanors than felonies,” Atlantic scribe Michael Powell wrote on X. “He is also talented and spirited and inquisitive and we should not wish to make a bonfire of his career.”
