Take Up Space: The Unprecedented AOC

by The Editors of New York Magazine, Lisa Miller (Editor)

Overview

A stunning four-color biography of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the bestselling tradition of Notorious RBG and Pelosi that explores her explosive rise and impact on the future of American culture and politics.

The candidate was young—twenty-eight years old, a child of Puerto Rico, the Bronx, and Yorktown Heights. She was working as a waitress and bartender. She was completely unknown, and taking on a ten-term incumbent in a city famous for protecting its political institutions. “Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a video launching her campaign, the camera following her as she hastily pulled her hair into a bun. But she did. And in perhaps the most stunning upset in recent memory, she won. At twenty-nine, she was sworn in as the youngest member of the 116th Congress and became the youngest woman to serve as a representative in United States history.

Before long, Ocasio-Cortez had earned her own shorthand title—AOC—and was one of the most talked-about public figures (loved and loathed) in the world. Her natural ability to connect with everyday people through the social media feeds grew her following into the multimillions. Every statement she made, every tweet and Instagram Live, went viral, and her term had barely begun before people were speculating that she could one day be president. The question seemed to be on everyone’s mind: How did this woman come from nowhere to acquire such influence, and so fast?

Now, in Take Up Space, that question is answered through a kaleidoscopic biography by the editors of New York magazine that features the riveting account of her rise by Lisa Miller, an essay by Rebecca Traister that explains why she is an unprecedented figure in American politics, and multiform explorations (reportage, comic, history, analysis, photography) of AOC’s outsize impact on American culture and politics. Throughout, AOC is revealed in all her power and vulnerability, and understood in the context of the fast-changing America that made her possible—and perhaps even inevitable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501166976
Publisher:	Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,096,356
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.25(d)

About the Author

Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968, New York was one of the earliest (and loudest) proponents of the New Journalism, launching the careers of Gloria Steinem, Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, Nora Ephron, and many others. More recently, New York has won thirty-six National Magazine Awards in the past two decades—more than any other magazine—and six General Excellence awards. The Washington Post has called it “the nation’s best and most imitated city magazine.”

Table of Contents

Introduction Before AOC, After AOC Rebecca Traister xi

A Life in Four Chapters Lisa Miller

Chapter 1 Just Relentless

Childhood, 1989-2007 3

Chapter 2 Deeply Conflicted

The College Years, 2007-2016 27

Chapter 3 Wild Ride

The Campaign, 2016-2018 49

Chapter 4 Breathing Fire

Congress, 2018-Present 95

And…

1 A Child of Borinquén Andrea González-Ramárez 204

2 The Boyfriend Josh Gondelman 210

3 Counter-Shaming Dance Videos 214

4 Bernie Sanders: The Paradox Eric Levitz 216

5 The Dakota Access Pipeline Epiphany Michelle Ruiz 222

6 Saikat Chakrabarti: The Mastermind David Freedlander 230

7 AOC ON: Why Beauty Is Political 235

8 Authentically What, Exactly? Molly Fischer 237

9 The Art of the Dunk Brock Colyar 242

10 American Socialism: A Brief History Tim Shenk 252

11 Getting Her Elected: An Oral History Bridget Read 260

12 Beating Bezos Andrew Rice 266

13 AOC vs. Nancy Pelosi, Day One Kate Aronoff 271

14 AOC On: A People's Economy 276

15 The Squad Clare Malone 278

16 A "Concentration Camp" at the Border 289

17 AOC On: How to Grill a Witness 298

18 The Green New Deal Changed Everything David Wallace-Wells 305

19 AOC On: Being Called a F*cking B*tch 309

20 AOC On: Not Giving Up 314

21 What the Teens Say 316

22 AOC On: The Terror of the Mob 320

Appendix Credits/Notes/Index 325

Editorial Reviews

03/07/2022

Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets the star treatment in this immersive biography made up of original pieces by contributors to New York magazine. The book’s centerpiece is Lisa Miller’s lengthy profile, which traces the origins of Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning upset victory in 2018 to the “extreme discouragement” she felt after college, when she was forced to take a waitressing job to help pay off $25,000 in student loans. Miller also examines how the congresswoman’s enthusiasm for Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign was “tempered by skepticism, frustration, and dissatisfaction”; analyzes the animosity directed at Ocasio-Cortez and fellow “Squad” member Ilhan Omar by “certain white men”; and discusses rumors that AOC’s celebrity status has created “disarray” in her congressional office. Elsewhere, Kate Aronoff documents Ocasio-Cortez’s decision to join a group of climate-change activists for a sit-in at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in support of the Green New Deal, while Andrea González-Ramírez reflects on how Ocasio-Cortez and other “Puerto Ricans born outside the archipelago... grow up with their heart split in two, loving both the land of the free and its colony.” Bold graphics and copious photos add to the celebratory feel, as contributors revel in AOC’s social media savvy and ability to parry Republican attacks. Fans of the congresswoman will delight in this stylish tribute. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR TAKE UP SPACE

“In the pages of Take Up Space, the editors of New York Magazine eloquently explore AOC’s ascension within our public imagination, driving readers of all ages to discern whether we’re championing progress or blocking change. Through a mix of narrative and graphic essays and photos, this polychromatic biography outlines how Representative Ocasio-Cortez made an enduring mark on the political discourse and our cultural conversation... this robust four-part book makes a compelling case for why AOC is the type of leader the nation needs here and now... a comprehensive but addictively accessible tome.” —Oprah Daily

"This book should have been titled Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez But Were Afraid to Ask.” —The Guardian

“A fully immersive, creatively formatted appreciation for an indefatigable politician and people’s champion. . . The most complete picture we will likely have until she writes a memoir.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Fans of the congresswoman will delight in this stylish tribute.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

02/04/2022

In this biography by Miller, with contributions by editors of New York magazine, U.S. representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is described as representing the hope of millennial Democratic Socialists to forge a more effective democracy. Elected to represent New York in Congress before she was 30, AOC "invent[ed] a new kind of political discourse—colloquial, brash, and direct," according to her champions, and her skill with social media enhanced her ability to connect to younger voters. The result: "AOC's influence is revolutionary." Both Rebecca Traister, who wrote this book's introduction, and Miller, the author of the biographical section, write as admirers of the congresswoman: "Before she was 32 years old, Ocasio-Cortez was arguably one of the two or three most influential politicians in the land," they argue. But her celebrity cost her and she bore the brunt of the anger when, in 2020, the Democrats lost 13 seats in the House. AOC's attempt to make amends to both the right and the left satisfied no one. As a member of Congress, she had chosen a difficult path, one she is not yet fully committed to, this book posits. Here Miller's four-chapter narrative biography follows Traister's introduction; a compendium of brief essays by and about AOC follows the biographical section. It is altogether a messy arrangement. VERDICT This biography will satisfy political junkies, but it's not for the uninitiated.—Cynthia Harrison

Library Journal

★ 2021-12-24
A unique portrait of one of the Democratic Party’s powerhouses.

This bright, photo-heavy biography creatively spans the life of Ocasio-Cortez (b. 1989) from her youth through her groundbreaking political career. At the heart of the book is Miller’s impassioned, four-part minibiography of the youngest woman to ever serve in Congress. Born in the Bronx to a Puerto Rican American Catholic family, Ocasio-Cortez excelled early in school. She was a “brown-skinned, opinionated, but guarded,” science-minded girl who went by Sandy, and she relentlessly honed her inquisitive nature into the “precocious insistence that would later become a trademark.” She entered Boston University in 2007 as a pre-med student, but her interest in politics grew after an internship with Ted Kennedy and, later, involvement with Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. She was elected to the House of Representatives at 28, backed by progressive grassroots organizations amid the “dystopian” nightmares of the Trump era. Following the biographical sections, the book presents diverse perspectives from a variety of contributors, including Josh Gondelman, Michelle Ruiz, Andrew Rice, Rebecca Traister, David Wallace-Wells, Pia Guerra, and Andrea González-Ramírez. Pages of art, opinion, photography, congressional testimony, and transcripts of seminal speeches deepen the chronicle of Ocasio-Cortez’s heritage, personal life, and career aspirations and accomplishments. A graphic novel–style section details her engagement with the U.S.–Mexico border ordeal, and the concluding pages include her Instagram Live speech, which “had a now-familiar rhetorical shape, moving from an intimate sermon to a fire-and-brimstone speech, as always without notes and in almost perfect spoken paragraphs.” Regardless of political inclination, readers interested in learning Ocasio-Cortez’s full story will find a variety of ways to do so in this thorough and creative biography of an outspoken, unflinchingly confident leader from the Bronx who upended Democratic politics in her 20s. It’s the most complete picture we will likely have until she writes a memoir.

A fully immersive, creatively formatted appreciation for an indefatigable politician and people’s champion.

Kirkus Reviews