The energy inside The Wiltern felt like a family gathering — the kind where everyone shows up dressed sharp, smiling wide, and genuinely happy to see one another. Laughter echoed through the aisles, hugs were exchanged, and strangers became fast friends as Kamala Harris walked on stage to Victoria Monet’s “On My Mama” and a standing ovation.
The night wasn’t about politics or polls — it was about people. About showing up, being seen, and remembering the humanity that connects us all.
The Los Angeles stop on her 107 Days book tour revealed a softer, more personal side of the former Vice President — one that many said made her feel more relatable than ever before.
“The joy, everybody that we’ve met here has just been so joyous and happy,” said Crystal Tunstall, who attended the event with her wife. “It just felt like a warm family room — the inclusiveness and happiness. It’s amazing, the atmosphere that was here tonight.”
In 107 Days, Harris opens up about what it was like to step into history — when sitting president, Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race just months before Election Day, and she found herself at the center of one of the most intense political moments in modern history.
But her book doesn’t just revisit campaign strategy or headlines. It reveals her fears, her faith, and her reflections.
According to Simon & Schuster, 107 Days sold 350,000 copies across all formats in its first week, prompting a fifth printing that will bring total hardcovers to half a million.
“The only memoirs that have had a better first week of sales since 2023 were by Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, and Prince Harry,” said Jonathan Karp, president and CEO of Simon & Schuster, in a statement released Monday.
The early success shows that readers aren’t just interested in politics — they’re interested in the woman behind it.
“This book shows how down to earth and connected she is,” Tunstall said. “It feels like you’re talking to someone on a day-to-day basis, not a politician. She connects with us on a woman basis, on a personal level, and on what we do in our normal lives. It’s amazing.”
For many in the audience, 107 Days isn’t just Kamala Harris’s story. It’s a reflection of their own.
Shelby Tunstall, Crystal’s wife, said Harris represents compassion and strength during a time when both can feel hard to find.
“Kamala represents compassion,” Shelby said. “It’s been nice being around people who think of others and not just themselves. That’s been needed, especially right now.”
As a woman working in law, Shelby said she sees herself in Harris’s journey.
“I work with a lot of female attorneys like her who had to fight hard to be the only woman in the room,” she said. “That’s really inspiring.”
For Christina Martin, the book felt deeply personal — especially Harris’s reflections on how it felt to process everything in real time.
“It helps her keep space for herself,” Martin said. “So often men end up telling women’s stories, even when we’re the ones who lived them. She’s telling hers before anyone else can reshape it.”
Martin, who identifies as biracial, got emotional as she recalled meeting Harris backstage.
“I told her, ‘Let them catch up. Don’t you stop being who you are.’ She represents the future — and the now. We definitely don’t want to go back.”
When Harris spoke about her journey, she reminded the audience that 107 Days was written to help people remember just how unprecedented that moment really was.
“So I wrote the book for many reasons,” Harris said, “but primarily to remind us how unprecedented that election was. Think about it — a sitting president decides not to run, and the sitting vice president takes up the mantle to run against a former president who’s been running for 10 years.”
It was a rare moment of vulnerability — the kind that doesn’t often make the campaign trail.
And as she shifted her focus to the next generation, Harris’s tone turned hopeful.
“I so believe in you, Gen Z,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “You’ve only known the climate crisis. You’ve lived through the pandemic. You’re impatient with waiting for everyone else to figure it out — and that gives me hope.”
She encouraged the audience to think of Gen Z as a generation that’s worth it.
“We should be thinking about how to invest in them — not just through college, but through skills, opportunities, and affordable living,” Harris said. “When they succeed, we all do.”
For attendees like Kyla Canada who wiped away tears when asked what Kamala Harris represents to her, Canada says, “What could have been,” she said quietly. “We were so close to history. Maybe this country just wasn’t ready for what she represented. But I was ready. My mom was ready. My grandma would’ve been ready. Maybe next time.”
Her words lingered like a collective sigh — one shared by women who’ve carried pride and heartbreak at the same time.
For Harris, 107 Days isn’t just about revisiting the past. It’s about reclaiming her voice and reminding the world that behind the title, there’s still a woman — thoughtful, funny, flawed, and fierce.
“She’s the voice of the people — freedom, compassion, joy, all of the above,” Crystal said with a smile.
As the crowd made its way out of The Wiltern, the night felt less like a political event and more like a shared exhale. A moment to see Kamala Harris — not as the first, not as the former, but simply as herself.
And in doing so, she reminded everyone of something easy to forget in the chaos of public life:before she was Vice President, before she was a headline — she was human.