American Canto

American Canto is a memoir by journalist Olivia Nuzzi, released on December2, 2025. The book details her relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is referred to as "The Politician" throughout the book.

Reception

Helen Lewis's review in The Atlantic described the book as a "tell-nothing memoir", criticizing it as being written in haste and for displaying a fundamental lack of honesty; Lewis contends that Nuzzi avoids directly confronting the "sheer desperation of her love for Kennedy" and instead attempts to elevate the scandal into mythic or literary significance: "The language seems tortured by Nuzzi's efforts to rewrite her life-upending crush into a mutual whirlwind of passion, to turn herself from Ophelia into Juliet." Lewis also criticizes Nuzzi as having "no real, believable regret" and dubbed American Canto a "portrait of losing your soul", and a bid to gain favorable media coverage and revive her career.