#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national … and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone)
NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
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Poignant, infuriating, difficult to stomach. heartbreaking to reconcile, impossible to forget.
Beautifully written
A private story that demands a public read.
I didn’t like the book. Author whined throughout.
Picked this as my book to have my book club and discuss. Second time reading it was even better than the first. It’s fun to read it but is really quite profound and certainly tells me of a culture that I knew nothing about before I read this.
I recommend this book to everyone. I hope these who looked and thought “not for me” especially, will read the book. You”ll be surprised Mr. Coats may become your next golden author find. If you love a word smith, a meal for your mind this is the book.
Very boring. Could not finish it which rarely happens to me. Not well written either.
As an old white woman, it was a bit hard to get into this book, especially at the beginning. But I am very glad I stuck with it. It gives an entirely different perspective on what it must mean to be a black parent. I don’t think raising white children is always as much easier as the author believes it to be, but I can understand some of his fears. The insight I gained is worthwhile.
This is an eye-opener. Beautifully written.
This book is not about entertainment. It is a deep, damning description of being black in America with a great deal of insight and provocation in how Coates experiences life. He recasts familiar elements of contemporary life cutting through the myths of the white privileged perspective. A must read as far as I am concerned for all Americans. But this is not most of the adjectives like funny, whimsical, steamy, action-packed, romantic, etc.
As a caucasian reader I am not sure I can adequately appreciate Coates writing but I came away with a better understanding of the Black culture. He pretty much feels all white folks don’t care about Blacks and in fact all want to oppress them. I can see where he might get such a sense but it is not all true. Must be read with that in mind.
“What is it like to inhabit a black body”
We are all people, why are black people branded / stigmatized?
An eye opening and thought provoking read.
In a letter to his young son, Coates explores the dangers and difficulties of being a black male in today’s America.
This is a must read for everyone who considers her/himself a humanitarian.
Beautifully written and insightful.
Everyone who is interested in learning about race relations in this country should read this book!
This impassioned statement about racism in America and its impact on Coates and on his son is a must-read.
This book made me really angry. Having demonstrated in the civil rights movement in the sixties, I thought it presumptive of the author to speak about the viewpoint of non blacks. Just as I know nothing about being a black man, he in turn cannot know the thoughts and convictions of a white woman. I was distressed that we apparently have hardly progressed since the sixties. I found this book tragic.
Reality of this world. Recommended by my grandson. It reminded me of James Baldwin’s letter to his nephew. Great writing and prep for authors son.
Powerful!!!