Between the World and Me

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Release Date: 2015-07-14
  • Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 2,909 Ratings

Description

#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 • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT

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 political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone)

NAMED ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY • NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTES BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: 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.

Reviews

  • Jarring

    5
    By Anella Wetter
    Simply jarring. A must read.
  • Best book I’ve ever read

    5
    By msromoo
    Had my anti-racist book club read it and all of them absolutely loved this book. As do I.
  • ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

    5
    By nikindc
    This is a book that will stick with me for the rest of my life.
  • Eye opening!

    5
    By Glam-ma T
    Once I started reading this book I could not put it down. Even now I feel robbed that it’s over. So much power in the words of and from a black man to his son. BRAVO!
  • Interesting read

    3
    By DannyKeo
    Decent insights from a good perspective
  • An eye opening experience

    5
    By Naturesfan
    The way he casts his journey like a long hike with twists and turns then a strong slap in the face! With passion and reckoning, i couldn’t put it down.
  • Between the World and Me

    5
    By Razzlebarry
    Coates draws a stark and moving portrait of the damage the dream of whiteness does directly to black bodies, the earth, and, therefore, to the dreamers. It hurts to acknowledge the status that privilege has bestowed on me and to know there is so little I can do to wake my fellow dreamers. A must read for all who care about justice and particularly for those who don’t.
  • A beautifully...

    5
    By SirGregOfMays
    written coming of age story and tribute to — among other things — the majesty of the Howard University experience for young black men and women.
  • Phenomenal read

    5
    By JBdesign29
    So raw, full of details and vulnerability! Thank you for writing this!
  • Enjoyed Immensely

    5
    By Z 'Ree
    Beautiful book!