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Between the World and Me

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Between the World and Me

Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Buy Now for ₹879.00

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About this listen

 #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 PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY • AN OPRAH DAILY BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE PAST TWO DECADES

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. Americas Racism & Discrimination Social Sciences Social Justice
All stars
Most relevant
Always believe in yourself and your ideas. Never, doubt such because you belong to different colour, culture or upbringing. This is a simple yet most important lesson that this book teaches. It also says never forget your history, learn from it and move forward for a better world.
Must read book

Powerful letter by the father to son

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A super revealing and thoughtful memoir of the lingering effect of racism in America. Coates is a powerful narrator and this is totally worth your time. listen with headphones if possible.

A powerful tour de force.

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As a non - American, I found it quite heavy and felt a bit lost, even though it's a short book. The writing is very lyrical. But like most poetry, I found it dense and felt I was missing a lot of the context and meaning between the lines.

Coates and this book have obviously made a big impact on American readers. He writes from personal experience and also covers American history particularly in relation to the African American community. He is heavily influenced by Malcolm X and calls Howard University his Mecca. He doesn't believe in the dream that one day racism would be over, and in this book which is a letter to his son, he shares his wisdom on how to live and deal with this reality.

He reasons that African American parents hit their kids so often so as to somehow protect them from the violence outside their homes - which they don't have control over. I found this part of the book quite touching.

This is just my personal opinion, but if you're non American and interested in this genre, you should rather read Historical fiction or even contemporary YA like The Hate U Give, which I really liked. I learnt more about how it is for an African American on the streets of America from this YA than anything else. I won't rate it low just cos I didn't relate to it. I still think it's a very impactful book and should be mandatory reading in the US.

Listened to this audiobook for Black History Month

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