-
There is a fresh clarity to [Coates’s] voice—urgent, outraged, electric—that’s never felt more necessary.
— Entertainment Weekly
-
“He introduces each magazine story with an essay that serves not just as connective tissue, binding one work to the next, but as meta-commentary.”
— New York Times
-
Biting cultural and political analysis from the award-winning journalist . . . [Ta-Nehisi Coates] reflects on race, Barack Obama’s presidency and its jarring aftermath, and his own evolution as a writer in eight stunningly incisive essays. . . . He contextualizes each piece with candid personal revelations, making the volume a melding of memoir and critique. . . . Emotionally charged, deftly crafted, and urgently relevant.
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
-
A master class . . . Anyone who wants to know who we are—and where we are now—must sit with [Ta-Nehisi Coates] for a good while. . . . It should inspire us as writers, and as Americans, that he urges us . . . to become better—or at least clearer on why we’re not.
— Kevin Young, The New York Times Book Review
-
Coates . . . eloquently unfurls blunt truths. . . . Such a voice, in such a moment, is a ray of light.
— USA Today
-
Indispensable . . . bracing . . . compelling . . . A new book from Coates is not merely a literary event. It’s a launch from Cape Canaveral.
— Jennifer Senior, The New York Times
-
Essential . . . Coates’s probing essays about race, politics, and history became necessary ballast for this nation’s gravity-defying moment.
— The Boston Globe
-
Coates’s collection of his essays from the past decade examine the recurrence of certain themes in the black community, the need for uplift and self-reliance, the debate between liberals and conservatives about the right approach to racism, and the virulent reaction in some quarters to any signs of racial progress. . . . Coates’s always sharp commentary is particularly insightful as each day brings a new upset to the cultural and political landscape laid during the term of the nation’s first black president. . . . Coates is a crucial voice in the public discussion of race and equality, and readers will be eager for his take on where we stand now and why.
— Booklist (starred review)
-
Though the essays are about a particular period, Coates’s themes reflect broader social and political phenomena. It’s this timeless timeliness—reminiscent of the work of George Orwell and James Baldwin—that makes Coates worth reading again and again.
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
-
“Coates is a crucial voice in the public discussion of race and equality, and readers will be eager for his take on where we stand now and why.”
— Booklist (starred review)
-
“Both new and revealing. Interspersed among the essays are introductory personal reflections…the fears, insecurities, influences, insights, and blind spots that the craft demands
— Washington Post
-
“Coates’ probing essays about race, politics, and history became necessary ballast for this nation’s gravity-defying moment.”
— Boston Globe
-
“Anyone who wants to know who we are—and where we are now—must sit with him for a good while.”
— New York Times Book Review