Robert Reich is back, but this time it feels different. It’s personal. Honestly, if you’ve followed the former Labor Secretary over the last few decades, you know his brand: suspenders, a whiteboard, and a relentless focus on why the middle class is getting squeezed. But in Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, Reich pivots from just analyzing the "rigged" system to looking at his own life and the generation he represents.
He’s 4 feet 11 inches tall. He’s spent his entire life being the smallest guy in the room. This isn't a secret, of course, but Robert Reich new book uses that physical reality as a metaphor for an entire country that he believes is failing to live up to its own promises.
Why Coming Up Short is the Robert Reich New Book We Needed
Most political memoirs are dry. They’re "I met the President on Tuesday and we discussed trade" kind of books. Reich doesn't do that here. Instead, he traces his journey from a bullied kid in South Salem, New York, to the halls of power in Washington, all while asking a brutal question: Did we actually make things better?
He talks about the 1960s with a mix of nostalgia and regret. There’s a heartbreaking chapter about the death of his friend Michael Schwerner, who was murdered by the KKK during Freedom Summer in 1964. It’s a gut punch. It explains why Reich became a "bully fighter" in the economic sense. He sees corporations and oligarchs as the modern-day version of the kids who used to shove him into lockers.
The Problem With "The System"
Reich’s previous work, specifically The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, was a diagnostic manual. It was about how Jamie Dimon and the "billionaire class" took over. But in this new 2025 release, he’s more concerned with the soul of the country. He looks at his time in the Clinton administration—not as a triumph, but as a period where the seeds of today's inequality were often watered, sometimes by the very people he worked with.
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The title itself, Coming Up Short, is a double entendre. Yes, it’s about his height. But more importantly, it's about the "Baby Boomer" failure to protect the democratic capitalism they inherited.
What Most People Get Wrong About Reich’s Message
Some critics look at Reich and see a partisan firebrand. That’s a mistake. If you actually read the prose in Coming Up Short, you’ll find someone who is deeply critical of the Democratic party's shift toward the professional class and away from the working class.
He’s not just yelling at Republicans.
He’s pointing out that when the "experts" in the 90s pushed for NAFTA and Wall Street deregulation, they were leaving people behind. Reich was in the room when those decisions were made. He was the Labor Secretary who often felt like he was screaming into a void. There's a certain "I told you so" energy in the book, but it's softened by a lot of self-reflection.
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It's Not Just a History Lesson
You might think a memoir is just looking backward. Nope. Reich is obsessed with the future. He uses his stories about Bill Clinton and Oxford, or his friendship with John Kenneth Galbraith, to explain why the current "anger and hatred" in American politics didn't just appear out of thin air.
- The Bullies: He identifies modern monopolies as the primary bullies of 2026.
- The Progress: He acknowledges where we grew—civil rights, tech, medicine.
- The Gap: He highlights the $50 trillion wealth transfer from the bottom 90% to the top 1% over the last few decades.
Basically, he's saying that while we got better at technology, we got worse at community.
The Unexpected Humor in Robert Reich New Book
Despite the heavy themes of economic despair and political "disarray," the book is actually pretty funny. Reich has always been a bit of a performer—you see it in his TikToks and YouTube videos. He brings that wit to the page.
He recounts meeting a young Hillary Rodham in college and his early days with Bill Clinton with the kind of "kinda messy" detail you don't expect from a Berkeley professor. He describes the absurdity of being a 4'11" man trying to command respect in a town (D.C.) that is obsessed with "big" personalities and even bigger egos.
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There’s a great bit about his friendship with Bernie Sanders and Ted Kennedy. He paints them as human beings with flaws, rather than just political icons. It makes the world of high-stakes policy feel... small. Accessible.
Is it Worth the Read?
If you’re looking for a step-by-step policy guide, stick to Saving Capitalism. But if you want to understand why the guy with the whiteboard is so obsessed with fairness, this is the one.
Coming Up Short is a 416-page reckoning. It’s published by Knopf and, honestly, it’s probably his most vulnerable work. He doesn't hide behind statistics this time. He uses his own life as the data point.
Actionable Insights from the Text
Reich doesn't leave us hanging. He suggests that the way forward isn't just about passing one law; it's about a cultural shift back to the "Common Good."
- Stop falling for the "Left vs. Right" trap. Reich argues this is a distraction used by the ultra-wealthy to keep everyone else fighting.
- Focus on local "bottom-up" economics. The big fixes in D.C. are stuck, so the action is in the states.
- Reclaim the word "Freedom." He argues that true freedom isn't just the absence of government; it's the presence of opportunity (healthcare, education, a living wage).
Next Steps for Readers:
If you want to dive deeper, don't just buy the book and let it sit on your shelf. Watch his 2025 documentary The Last Class as a companion piece. Then, look at your own local school board or city council. Reich’s whole point is that democracy isn't a spectator sport—and if we keep acting like it is, we’ll continue to come up short.