Penguin Random House Suspends Ross Barkan’s Biography of Mayor Zohran Mamdani

The book’s webpages have been removed from major retailers—including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart—following an independent review that uncovered extensive plagiarism in journalist Ross Barkan’s New York Magazine columns.

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An editorial review at New York Magazine identified attribution problems in 67 of Barkan’s columns, leading the outlet to terminate his column and update the pieces to credit original sources. The review was prompted after Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell flagged similarities between Barkan’s reporting and a May article, with NPR correspondent Bobby Allyn later noting additional uncredited parallels. Barkan, who has written two prior political nonfiction books, has long championed Mayor Zohran Mamdani—Mamdani served as Barkan’s campaign manager during a 2018 state-senate bid.

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Barkan posted an apology on X, asserting that the lapses were “not willful or intentional” and pledging to improve citation practices. Penguin Random House declined to comment when contacted for comment.

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• “None of them, genuinely, were willful or intentional,” — Ross Barkan, journalist (Barkan’s apology about citation errors)

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• “We regret that this work did not live up to our editorial standards, and apologize to the writers whose work was not appropriately attributed,” — New York, days as mayor (New York Magazine’s statement on editorial standards)

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• “I’ve been a journalist for nearly 15 years and written millions of words,” — Ross Barkan, journalist (Barkan on his journalistic experience)

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