Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery

by Gavin Newsom

From California Governor Gavin Newsom comes an intimate and poignant account of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics

“Go slow,” his political elders advised him, but Gavin Newsom has never known such a speed. For Newsom, the California Dream is what lured his father’s family from County Cork, Ireland, six generations ago. His great-great-grandfather, a cop, walked a beat in San Francisco, where almost 150 years later, Newsom would be elected as mayor, running on the values instilled in him by his family that California’s open arms must continue to extend to each new generation.

Newsom has never lived anywhere but California. Born in San Francisco, his parents divorced at a young age, and his childhood was spent being tugged between two his mother worked three jobs in order to care for her children while his father, a close friend of the Getty family, brought Newsom into San Francisco society, a world of wealth and connections. The dissonance was frustrating, and made all the more difficult because of undiagnosed dyslexia, but the vantage point was he inherited his mother’s perseverance and his father’s reverence of California, not only its wildness, but its opportunity.

In Young Man in a Hurry, Newsom traces the forces that have defined his ambitions as a politician and have pushed him to outpace the nation on myriad cutting-edge social issues that have since entered the mainstream. As mayor of San Francisco, he made waves when he violated state law in order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, more than ten years before the Supreme Court made such unions legal. He launched bold efforts to counter climate change, improve mental health care, and enhance gun safety, and worked to preserve the California Dream for his constituents. Elected as governor on the eve of unprecedented wildfires and entering office into immediate hyper-partisan headwinds from Washington, DC, Newsom has constantly and consistently stuck his neck out. Here for the first time, he reflects on the long personal journey that ultimately shaped him into one of the most recognizable and accomplished elected officials in America. Filled with intimate family history and written with candor and remarkable personal insight, here is a deeply resilient California story of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics.

Genres: Politics, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Biography, Audiobook, American

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2026

About the author

Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician. He currently serves as the 40th Governor of California, elected to office in 2019, after serving as the 49th Lieutenant Governor of California from 2011 to 2019 and as the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011, the city's youngest mayor in 100 years. In addition to his political career, Newsom is an entrepreneur and the founder of the PlumpJack wine store, which grew into the PlumpJack Group, managing over 20 businesses, including wineries, restaurants, and hotels. Newsom was born and raised in and around San Francisco and attended Santa Clara University. He currently resides in Fair Oaks, California, with his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and their four children. Newsom was diagnosed as a child with dyslexia, which continues to affect him as an adult and was the driving force behind his debut children's picture book, Ben and Emma's Big Hit.

Reviews

[Doug Flaherty]

Young Man In a Hurry is an eye-opening memoir by a politician who writes like a Pulitzer prize winning writer. I haven't finished the pre-publication copy I received, totally by surprise, in the mail. What I have read displays an individual who is open, frank, and candid about his rough early years, and the loving support from his mother. His list of humane political legislative victories to the present would be a victory for a politician twenty years his senior. This is a wonderful read, filled with human interest details that far outpace politics.

As the governor says-- it was 150 years from Policeman to Politician, as he remarks on his great-great-grandfather, a policeman. The fact that my mother's father came from Cork, has nothing to do with my positive review. Gavin Newsome's work is truly praiseworthy.

Prof. Doug Flaherty

[Jessica Doss · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Gavini! I wished there were more pages. Excellent writing. I was enthralled throughout. It was funny and witty and raw. I cannot say enough how much I loved this book! Gavin, please be our next president!

[Ian Kayanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Young Man in a Hurry,” for a political memoir, is actually quite interesting. Where the book does well is Newsom detailing how he is a broken man coming from broken people. It is the story of life. We are all crooked, broken people trying to love our crooked and broken neighbors.

Where the book falls flat is in Newsom’s insecurity in confronting his own immense privilege. He paints his success as something of grit and courage, when it is also, in part, who his family knew — whether Newsom wants to admit it or not.

I admire the vulnerability in Newsom to write this book. But it is clear there is still vanity within the man, and the myth he is attempting to create.

[Andrew Shaffner · Rating 1 out of 5]

His writing skills are apparently as bad as his self proclaimed reading skills. What a bore…

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

He did have help writing this book, but it is his story. I enjoyed it - seemed truthful and not too much puffery.

[Linda LaDuc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book—free with no explanation— in the mail 4 days ago, and I read it during our most recent New England blizzard. I found this memoir to be interesting and honest. Rarely do politicians expose their worst mistakes, secret doubts, and existential questions, but Gavin Newsom did just that in this book. I think the struggles he has with serious dyslexia have been critical to his success—he learned to manage his mind. He describes having the gift and curse of living across wealth divides, and how he built his businesses one step at a time, adapting and collaborating and getting the best advice. It's rather a humble narrative, one that inspires hope.

[Mirae · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. As a Bay Area resident for the past 41 years, this was a must-read for me. I learned a lot about Gavin Newsom that I didn’t know, but could have done without all the descriptions of vacationing with the Gettys in his youth. It appears that it DID take a village to raise him. I admire him for honoring all the people in that village, Gettys and otherwise.

My favorite part? His recounting of what is was like to ride around with Trump touring the devastation after the Paradise and Woolsey fires when he was governor-elect. I respect him and his ghostwriter for the show-don’t-tellness of that passage.

Thanks to the publisher for shipping the hardcover to me before its release.

[Cindy]

As has become my style, I tend not to give a rating to memoirs and I have decided to do the same with this one. It was definitely an interesting listen and he is definitely going to run for president (no, he doesn’t say that, but this book makes it self evident). He had an unusual upbringing and beyond those statements. I’m not sure what to make of this book. I believe he is trying to air much of his dirty laundry in advance of a presidential campaign. And his dirty laundry made for a very entertaining read or in my case, listen.

[Laura, still reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading about Gavin’s life and his perspective on how he came to be what he is today. I particularly liked listening to it in Gavin’s gravelly voice (hubba hubba!). I went to school with Jen, so I was really interested to hear about his life after he met her. Also, I was living in San Francisco when Gavin was mayor. So I feel a bit intertwined with him in having seen his rise in California politics. I wish him, Jen, and their kids all the best!

📚❤️

[Cynthia Judkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished this autobiography (audio) just in time to hear him speak tomorrow night.