The Mrs. Fletcher author previews his upcoming sequel to the book that spawned Reese Witherspoon’s iconic performance.
Tracy Flick came back to hauntTom Perrottain the best way possible.
Indeed, the book almost demanded it.
Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Flick in ‘Election’.Everett Collection
“I was thinking, ‘Why am I doing this?
I don’t want to copy myself; I want to do something new.’
And I suddenly realized that the novel needed something else.
‘Tracy Flick Can’t Win,’ by Tom Perrotta.Scribner
The result isTracy Flick Can’t Win, which will be published June 7, 2022, from Scribner.
(Get an exclusive look at the cover, designed by Jonathan Bush, below.)
The new novel finds a middle-aged Tracy as a hard-working assistant principal at a suburban New Jersey high school.
Author Tom Perrotta penned ‘Election,’ which became a cult-classic 1999 film.Ben King; Penguin Random House
I was really interested in that.
It’s fascinating to plumb the psychology of ambitious people who have to put their ambitions aside.”
The passage of time hasn’t just transformed the Tracy in the novel.
(Even Perrotta admits he “can’t think about Tracy without picturing Reese Witherspoon now.")
And is it too late for Witherspoon to step back into the role?
“That would be amazing,” Perrotta says, laughing.
“I’m waiting to hear [their response].”
It was designed by Jonathan Bush.
