The Message
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The Message
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Narrated by:
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Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Written by:
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Ta-Nehisi Coates
About this listen
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The renowned author of Between the World and Me journeys to three resonant sites of conflict to explore how the stories we tell—and the ones we don’t—shape our realities.
“Ta-Nehisi Coates always writes with a purpose. . . . These pilgrimages, for him, help ground his powerful writing about race.”—Associated Press
“Coates exhorts readers, including students, parents, educators, and journalists, to challenge conventional narratives that can be used to justify ethnic cleansing or camouflage racist policing. Brilliant and timely.”—Booklist (starred review)
FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Electric Lit
Ta-Nehisi Coates originally set out to write a book about writing, in the tradition of Orwell’s classic “Politics and the English Language,” but found himself grappling with deeper questions about how our stories—our reporting and imaginative narratives and mythmaking—expose and distort our realities.
In the first of the book’s three intertwining essays, Coates, on his first trip to Africa, finds himself in two places at once: in Dakar, a modern city in Senegal, and in a mythic kingdom in his mind. Then he takes listeners along with him to Columbia, South Carolina, where he reports on his own book’s banning, but also explores the larger backlash to the nation’s recent reckoning with history and the deeply rooted American mythology so visible in that city—a capital of the Confederacy with statues of segregationists looming over its public squares. Finally, in the book’s longest section, Coates travels to Palestine, where he sees with devastating clarity how easily we are misled by nationalist narratives, and the tragedy that lies in the clash between the stories we tell and the reality of life on the ground.
Written at a dramatic moment in American and global life, this work from one of the country’s most important writers is about the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive myths that shape our world—and our own souls—and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths.
©2024 Ta-Nehisi Coates (P)2024 Random House AudioWhat the critics say
“The Message charts Coates’s reentry as a public intellectual. . . . The rolling, elegiac cadences of much of his earlier work have yielded to a fury that’s harder edged. But a sense of shock also seems to have elicited in Coates a sense of possibility. . . . He is using his position of prominence and moral authority to draw attention to the plight of Palestinians.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Ta-Nehisi Coates always writes with a purpose, so naming his latest collection The Message is nothing if not on-brand. But what’s the actual message? Consisting of three pieces of nonfiction, the book is part memoir, part travelogue, and part writing primer. . . . These pilgrimages, for him, help ground his powerful writing about race.”—Associated Press
“The Message marks Coates’s first nonfiction book in nearly a decade, and it arrives at a critical flashpoint in our increasingly globalized society.”—Harper’s Bazaar
What listeners say about The Message
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ekta
- 2024-10-27
Thought-provoking and stirring
I love that Ta Nehis Coates himself is the narrator especially for the last essay about his visit to Palestine. He does a great job of balancing facts with his own experience/perspective. While every essay is distinct, the common thread of white supremacy is evident. To be digested and not merely read/listened to.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nauman khan
- 2024-10-08
Truth to Power
Ta Nehisi Coates stands out in an era of journalistic skepticism. It is evident from The Message that his honest account and opinions come from a deep understanding of oppression, and all the froms in which it’s manifests. Writers around the world ought to take inspiration from the author and wield the power of their pens in the brave endeavour to save humanity. To save the world.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Noor S.
- 2024-10-16
The awakening for Ta-nehisi
This was a fantastic read. Even as someone that’s well versed in the Palestinian situation and current genocide being committed against them. It’s truly an awe experience to read someone’s awakening moment to what’s happening in and to Palestine. This is even more true given all the flack he’s getting on main stream media about his book and his unrelenting support for Palestine. His poise and ability to not lose his cool at the ridiculousness asked of him is inspiring. He’s helping people see the truth and for that he will go down as one of the most respectable writers and advocate.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Reem S. Zaben
- 2024-10-06
So beautifully articulate
Simply mesmerizing. Thank you for being the voice of the silenced ones. Thank you for not being afraid to say the truth. This is the beginning of Palestine’s liberation. Thanks to voices and people like you.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Christopher P.
- 2024-10-15
Beautifully written, beautifully read
Coates has written a really wonderful book about writing. it's nuanced, humble and honest, particularly about his own relationship to his past work. I have liked, but not loved his previous writing so I was surprised with how engrossing his discussions of the reception of his past work was.
Author narrated audio books can be risky, but this is great reading from beginning to end.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J T
- 2024-10-20
Incredible
I want to say something eloquent to describe this book after listening to Mr. Coates do so with grace - but all I can muster is that this book will haunt me. The way he masterfully blurs the line between poetry and memoir to create a depth of experience is truly exceptional. Will be listening to this one again.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robert L. Taylor
- 2025-04-05
Worth a Listen
This is the type of reflection and honesty that’s needed. The courage to tell the stories and say the things that are so intentionally and loudly kept so silent.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mak Abdel-Hai
- 2024-12-02
Very informative and compassionate book
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a compassionate, knowledgable and courageous writer. I highly recommend this book and his other work.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous
- 2025-01-17
Inspiring, though provoking
The author has an amazing way of telling his story. It’s an eye opening experience on his journey and the power of writing.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Jamie Moffat
- 2024-10-18
A viewpoint of Palestine not often head
A glimpse of occupied Palestine through the perspective of the native Palestinians who have been displaced by Israels ongoing ethnic cleansing. He writes with a similar passion as my Palestinian friend speaks when talking about the beauty of Palestine and their beautiful people.
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