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Between the World and Me
- Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
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Publisher's 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.
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What the critics say
"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)
Editorial Review
With poetic language and an unpausable pace, Ta-Nehisi Coates shares his heartbreaking experience of growing up as a Black male in the United States in a deeply personal letter to his son–and for the world. Between the World and Me is an honest, beautifully written letter from one Black man to his son. It dives into history from slavery to segregation, and doesn’t shy away from the modern-day shame of America’s systemic racism. Coates paints a picture with words, creating a compelling portrait of race that invites anyone, of any background or culture, to understand and connect with this heartbreaking yet profoundly impactful narrative. This audiobook offers a story of humanity and dignity in all its ugliness and beauty, and one that Coates shares through his own voice as the narrator. Listen to his pauses that speak volumes, his powerful tone that resonates, and his authentically human voice that illustrates the pain that only one who has lived through it all could know. A National Book Award winner, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a number-one New York Times best seller, and featured on countless ‘best books of the year’ lists, Between the World and Me is an important must-listen for everyone.
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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- Eric
- 2024-07-06
Fantastic
A Truly Excellent explanation of the Black experience. Reading about a truth I’ll never fully understand. Thank you Mr Coates.
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- Jacqueline Linder
- 2020-08-22
Breathtaking!
This is one of the most profound and painfully beautiful book I have ever read.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2023-01-26
excellent
a short, easy, powerful listen. everyone could benefit from reading or listening to 'Between the World and Me'. over the last several years, I have been learning and unlearning a lot. but hearing the author's story through a personal letter to his son was compelling.
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- Kerryanne H
- 2020-09-11
Beautifully written
I believe every parent and their child should read this book. No matter the race. Humanity and dignity is spoken through each story. I can relate to so much of this book. It was a beautiful, heartmoving read/ listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2019-10-04
Highly Recommend
Absolutely loved this book!! So many powerful moments. Ta-Nehisi Coates does a spectacular job capturing the black experience and raises many thought provoking questions relating to race relations.
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- Aida Faber
- 2022-04-04
Wonderful and eye opening
"Racism is a visceral experience" and Ta-Nehisi Coates makes renders it beautifully; so beautifully one cannot look away. In a letter to his son, one is transported into the author's path to understand what is to be "Black" as a construction of what is "White". As a researcher, who teaches her pupils how perception is contructed from the inside out (yes!) this book was music to my ears. I am glad every time I read or listen to how one came to be. This is so much more. The question is, what will we do with this, will we wake up from the Dream so that we see more clearly and advance together?
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- Ashley
- 2023-02-25
beautiful and necessary reading
this should be required reading for everyone. this is absolutely beautiful, honest, confronting, and important.
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- Delvin
- 2020-12-13
Speechless!
This is a work of inspiring art! I hope that everyone truly gets the gravity of what's being read. Not filter it through our biases (if possible) and get the truth in this. Every culture needs to hear what's happening outside their walls.
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- Eugene Fuller
- 2019-07-06
Between the world and us
This resonates so much because it was and is my story growing up in Cleveland, OH, living in northern and southern California through my 20's to mid 40's. And now living in Canada. It's the same old White supremacy, different places though. Mr. Coates's story is my story, thus, it's us and not just me.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2021-01-12
Devastating.
Reading White Fragility is like putting on a hairshirt. It is punishing, but you never really know why. Coates will tell why - and you can even keep your soft sweater on; it will be forever uncomfortable now.
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