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Between the World and Me
- Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
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Summary
Number-one New York Times best seller
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 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’ attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son - and listeners - 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.
Critic reviews
"Ta-Nehisi Coates's delivery of his own book is so memorable because the material is charged with emotion and a tone of self-disclosure. There's also a highly personal sense of connection between himself and his audience because of his frequent use of 'you.'" (AudioFile)
"The language of Between the World and Me, like Coates's journey, is visceral, eloquent, and beautifully redemptive.... This is required reading." (Toni Morrison)
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What listeners say about Between the World and Me
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Martin Robson
- 19-08-15
Everyone should read this book
Listened to this on audiobook and heard the voice of true understanding. I have little in common with Ta-Nehisi Coates in background. Everything in common in humanity.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Darren Wallace
- 05-11-17
Insightful reflection
As a father I found this Ta-Nehisi's writing an insightful reflection of similar issues that I am considering as a "black" father in the UK. Make no mistake this book is refreshing text for everyone interested in welfare of society.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Jim
- 11-10-17
The Core Darkness of an Era
I'm amazed this story got told and thankful to the author for having gone through with the herculean task of writing this.
This book takes a deep hard look into the abyss of our perception of ourselves, our worth and our capacity to empathize.
I'm now scared to imagine a world where this book never got published. Luckily we are not in that world.
Go read it. Go listen to it. Survive, and if you can, love.
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2 people found this helpful
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- NNNNana
- 17-08-15
Poignant, Arresting, Tour de Force
i could go on and on about this. But I will not. it's a must-read. Period. Everyone should read and argue about this.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Paul
- 14-06-20
Required reading
Intensely sad and moving - what else could it possibly be? Read with the same power and sincerity with which he wrote it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ej N.
- 28-12-17
Great read and highly recommended.
It was fantastic, a great read and highly recommended in my opinion. He is a great writer.
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1 person found this helpful
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- kamara b barnett
- 20-09-17
Real!
Ta-nehisi Coates provides a raw vision of America that will leave the uninformed mind shell shocked, taking you on a roller-coaster of emotions, rage, pity, hope and sadness all while being performed and read in such a way it immerses you in this story summing up the epitome of American history, past, present and sadly if it keeps going this way future. Beautiful and raw.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Bhulesh Singh
- 21-07-17
Jarring but important
This book is jarring and disturbing but necessarily so. It's too easy to walk the earth without really understanding the perspective of others and the privilege one has. This book exposes the contrast.
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1 person found this helpful
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- S McMullen
- 28-06-17
Perfect
Incredibly moving to hear Ta-Nehisi Coates read out his own letter to his son. One of the few audiobooks that surpasses the read by a mile.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jack
- 04-01-17
is very good.
Smart author, well read. Easy to listen to. Good for expanding perspectives. Definitely recommend reading.
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1 person found this helpful