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  • Between the World and Me
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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
19,643 global ratings
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Between the World and Me

Between the World and Me

byTa-Nehisi Coates
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Top positive review

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Paul R.
5.0 out of 5 starsMost challenging book I've ever read
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2016
I'm white, male, and have very little understanding or appreciation for black culture. My parents and siblings all watched Roots when I was about 8 years old. I encountered some black sailors when I was in the U.S. Navy - in fact, I had a roommate for six months or so that was a black male, but we maybe spoke a hundred words during that time. This book came recommended by a quasi-stranger, not for it's content but for its structure: letters from a father to a son. I'd mentioned that I was interested in writing that sort of book, and this was a resulting recommendation. I read a few reviews before buying it. Not the sort of book I'd otherwise pick up. After ordering it, I heard the author on NPR - without knowing it was the author of the book, mind you - and I thought "wow, this guy is really interesting, provocative, well-spoken, intellectually sound, and speaks from a world that I can only see from afar." So when the show host said his name, I knew I had to pick up the book and read it soon. I had that opportunity within days, on a flight to Atlanta, my first visit there in maybe fifteen years. I got through about 110 pages on the flight and it was perfect timing. Atlanta is a sea of black compared to most everywhere I've lived. Instantly, I could try and appreciate my surroundings in way that I'd never been able to before. Did I feel "white guilt"? Sure. I do. I've seen racism my whole life, especially toward black. This book, however, did much more than rekindle strong feelings of being a winner of Powerball proportions in the life lottery. It challenged me so fundamentally and starkly in a way that I have never been challenged, reading a book, in my life. At times I felt compelled to put the book down, that it was just conjuring up too much weight of history that I wanted to put back out of sight. But I kept going. Finishing it, I felt, like apparently many others do, that this should be required reading for every American. Even those outside of the USA will benefit from it, as it will certainly illuminate the tension and schizophrenia and contradictions and rewritten history of our country. I hope Mr. Coates continues writing until he draws his final breath.
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3,381 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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rubic
1.0 out of 5 starsDidn't love it, didn't hate it
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2018
"A eulogy for Prince Travis" would have been a better title than "Between the World and Me," especially since there is nothing between the world and Mr. Coates other than his own insecurities and self-hatred. As I read through the book and listened to his own narration on audible, I felt as if I was reading and listening CNN transcripts of incidents of police force against black men. Between the World and Me is no great literary work, but rather more of the same tropes about white people's dominance and subordination over black people as if black Americans like Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Thurgood Marshall, Deval Patrick and so many other American black men and women have not succeeded against all odds. For me, the best parts of the book were when he met with Prince Jone's mother and when he was living in Paris, perhaps because it reminded me of my own time in Paris. Yet, he went on to relish and admire French culture and people as if French culture was never a part of the white, European, Western world that he claims to deplore. Sorry, Mr. Coates, but you are a Westerner, not an African, and the opportunities and successes that you have had are because of Western ideals. I don't question the abuse of force by the police. I do question your sincerity.
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372 people found this helpful

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From the United States

Jared S. Runck
4.0 out of 5 stars A Book Everyone Should Like
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2020
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I have concluded that all books fall into three large categories: 1) books I like, 2) books that are good, and 3) books that are important. Not all books I like are important. Not all good books I like. Not all important books are necessarily good.
Coates’ work, however, lives in the uncommon intersection of these groupings. Clearly, as a winner of the National Book Award, it is important…Coates is perhaps THE leading voice in the contemporary discussion of race in America. Furthermore, the book is very good. Coates writes with uncommon power and clarity. I felt myself drawn into his stories of growing up black in West Baltimore, an experience which is complete foreign to a white kid from rural Nebraska, but Coates succeeded in making that reality come alive for me.
And, finally, at the end of the day, I have to say I liked the book. There’s an honesty here that is difficulty to match (and impossible to fake). Whatever else may be said of the book, it is clear that Coates is telling you what he really thinks; those who would accuse him of simply touting a “party line” haven’t read him well, I would say.
Having said all that, there are aspects of the book that bothered me and, at the risk of sounding as if I’m exercising “white privilege,” there were arguments that were less-than-convincing. If I read Coates correctly, he treats the “American Dream” as the classical form of “white privilege.” Though that is not really made all that clear; the book would have benefited from greater clarity on that point. Of course, this is not a book addressed to “white” folk; it is a series of letters addressed to his son. There’s probably no need in that context to define “white privilege” when it is a shared reality.
Coates’ critique of the education system also fell a bit flat. To be fair, Coates admits that he “resents” the schools more than the other challenges of growing up in the inner city. Though attending Howard University was clearly one of his most formative experiences), education—especially elementary education—is just another form of “shackling” (his image) black bodies. In a book so incredibly well-written, the point seems a little disingenuous. Nearly every page reveals how Coates’ intelligence and education has served to liberate his thinking, allowing him to broach the nagging questions of racism and white privilege from entirely new angles.
Finally, and most concerning to me as a Christian theologian, is Coates’ outright rejection of religion and spirituality. He says early on (just after his tirade against education):

“I could not retreat, as did so many, into the church and its mysteries. My parents rejected all dogmas. We spurned the holidays marketed by the people who wanted to be white. We would not stand for their anthems. We would not kneel before their God. And so I had no sense that any just God was on my side.”

He heartbreakingly concludes (reversing the words of King): “My understanding of the universe was physical, and its moral arc bent toward chaos and then concluded in a box.”
These naturalistic presumptions permeate the work to the point that, if one disagrees with them, it becomes quite obvious that one must find an entirely different approach to the issues than the approach Coates espouses here.
Though he fails to recognize it, Coates has precluded all grounds for hope and lost all sense of the future. There simply is the physical present. His advice to his son is reduced to survival tips. The sense that the world can be changed—even bettered—is extraordinarily thin, when it is present at all.
Even as I write this, I wonder again why it is that I even liked this book, given that I disagree with Coates at the most fundamental level about the nature of human reality. I believe there are a couple interconnected reasons. First, there are some incredibly tender, moving moments in Coates’ addresses to his son. Though Coates has a formidable mind, it is clear that he is writing here from his heart. And even when his arguments do not convince, his love for his son still sways the heart. Secondly, Coates is incredibly honest; there’s a “calling it like I see it” quality here that is refreshing. He’s not concerned about “convincing” anyone he’s right (perhaps because he thinks white folk are too ensnared in the system of “white privilege” to ever find their way out); he simply lays out what he’s seen in his time in America for others to consider…and let the chips fall where they may.
As I read, I could imagine several good friends of mine reading the same passage and throwing the book across the room in disgust. But I would still encourage them to read it, to consider what is said, to try for a few moments to inhabit this perspective on the world. Not because I think Coates has “the” answer to racial injustice in America but because he has moved the conversation along. Because of Coates, we can carry forward a more honest discussion about race in America, with the core issues more clearly defined. For that reason alone, this is a book everyone should like.
5 people found this helpful
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Misty
4.0 out of 5 stars I heard about this book in a blog about 'must reads to make you better'.
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
After a cop was aquited of murdering an unarmed black man, yet again, Coates only son is quietly devastated. Standing outside the teens bedroom, listening to him cry, Coates longs to comfort him. He cannot, however, and instead writes to his son. 'Between the World and Me' is the product of that endeavor.

I heard about this book from a blog about "must reads to make you better." I actually loved this book because, as a white woman in the Deep South, I have been confronted with racism often. Lately, with police violence making headlines (though it is not a new phenomenon), I have wondered how black men and women must feel.

Coates leaves no doubt. He is incredibly insightful, passionate, eloquently written--often times poetic. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wants to understand. I am only giving it 4 stars, however, because I was left craving solution and Coates fell short, though solution is not his purpose in this book.
10 people found this helpful
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DomeniqueCY
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read, But Requires Focus
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2021
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4 out of 5 not because I didn't get the premise or object to it, but because the structure was at times rambling. I suspect that was intentional, as this is a letter to Coates's son about very emotional subjects, but as a reader trying to piece together argument and antidotes, the jumpy nature of the paragraphs and "verses of thought" caused me to lose track of things. 

If he was not Ta-Nahisi Coates, an average publisher would not have been too interested in getting this work out there, but I am glad he used his platform to do so. As for the various paradigms he sets up, because they are based on Coates's own experiences and those around him, it is hard to argue with him in any way. As for the subject matters, I think a lot about the allusions he makes to the economic loss of Prince Jone's mother in investing in a son who is eventually a victim of system. It was a great framework to view this subject matter.
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Melony Wiggins
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable and provides some info if you are not well versed in these issues
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2019
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Though it started off slowly, especially considering other works like Marcus Garvey’s "Message to the People" and Carter Woodson’s "Miseducation of the Negro", I enjoyed it and the mind-frame that Coates brought to it. He does a lot of mixing in his personal experiences. I really appreciate his thoughts about how he felt, during his enlightening. He seems to speak the truth and from the heart, specifically how there are contradictions between various black works. Despite contrasting views, the overall messages remain intact. What I really would have wished he included, and what would have brought a substantial amount of reliability and possibly rose this book higher in applicability, would have been to cite his sources. I know it it difficult to do that, but as a journalist, he should understand the repercussions of failing to do so; there are many, good and bad. The only bad I can think - it takes a lot more effort. One of the good - his data backed by solid sources. He makes some claims that are pretty awesome, but end up being good to know rather than quotable in tuff dialogue. Although we can use his information to further enhance our wisdom, much of the book is considered tertiary-source material, at best. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book very much and recommend to anyone looking into this genre and for basic insight to society.
2 people found this helpful
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Tim Healy
4.0 out of 5 stars Read to understand
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2020
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This is a quick but important read. Why...? I don't think you can properly understand the things that are happening in America this year without trying to embrace the point-of-view of the people to whom they are happening.

This book is one man's attempt to explain to his son the danger of the world he lives in while maintaining his ability to live happily and take joy from the world. This is a love letter...but it's also a statement that's based in a broad and nearly undeniable fear that I think Coates has lived with his entire life. The fear that "his body could be taken away from him" either through banning to a ghetto or "safe neighborhood" for blacks, imprisonment (nearly the same thing), or death brought about just for being black in the wrong place and at the wrong time.

He tells his son of growing up in Baltimore, not a tremendously safe city, escaping to "The Mecca," Howard University, expanding his world and still having fear. Now, his fear had redoubled though, as he had a family, and particularly his son and his body, to protect.

From the place of fear he is able to move. First he moves to a place of sorrow and lostness. And finally to a place where he can try to find peace. He's also trying to help his son find peace while still reminding him of the dangers.

The book made me uncomfortable...but it's the right kind of uncomfortable. It's the uncomfortable of attempting to understand...of empathy for something that I don't have to face in the same way. This is an important conversation, and we wrong ourselves if we refuse to have it.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but a bit hard to read
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2021
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The author's perspective of his experience of being a black person in America was informative and brings an undeniably interesting perspective to the conversation. The general flow of the book was not very smooth. I read it through because the content was worthwhile, but it took a while to read.
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ps
4.0 out of 5 stars Is there something wrong with the print I have, ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2018
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Is there something wrong with the print I have, or was this the author/publishers intention: ending a chapter mid-word; page 99 and then page 21; page 52 and then page 136. (My daughter is reading it, and says she thinks the story makes sense... But she's not entirely a sophisticated reader, and not having read it myself yet, I don't know.)
Customer image
ps
4.0 out of 5 stars Is there something wrong with the print I have, ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2018
Is there something wrong with the print I have, or was this the author/publishers intention: ending a chapter mid-word; page 99 and then page 21; page 52 and then page 136. (My daughter is reading it, and says she thinks the story makes sense... But she's not entirely a sophisticated reader, and not having read it myself yet, I don't know.)
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4 people found this helpful
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Du Nguyen
4.0 out of 5 stars In fear of losing their loved ones. And this fear creates more fear as ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2016
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Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is his part autobiographical book and part his view of the world to his son. Coates remembers his life and tries to piece together what it means to be black for him.

This book is at time haunting. Coates writes in a sometimes cold and harsh language that really hammers down the point. A mixture of hopelessness, anger and fear which is apparent throughout the book. Coates believes that not only is racism much alive in America today, it is the cornerstone of America and ingrained in its history. He makes the point that America's wealth is based on slaves and the exploitation of human lives.
The book is not all about history. Coates' most haunting point for me is when he writes about how every black person still lives in fear. In fear of losing their body. In fear of losing their loved ones. And this fear creates more fear as the fear of parents is passed along to their children.

However for me the book really shines when Coates writes directly to his son. And this is where you feel the fear that Coates beforehand only described. And somehow, even if you can never quite understand his position, you become aware of the fact that there are people living in a country like the US and feel fear every day.

I highly recommend this book. Not because it will provide you a well-researched historical account of race relations in the US. Or because it contains the answer to it. I recommend it because it will make you think and feel.
10 people found this helpful
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steven
4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful!
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2020
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I think the importance of this book can not be understated. During this climate or any other this is a must read. He exposes the racism in this country, the country's attempts to destroy the black body. Even though I'm white, there is no way I can imagine what it is for a black person to endure racism in this country.
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Suneet K. Bhatt
4.0 out of 5 stars Had I read this before Caste and when it was first written...
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2021
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Powerful and poignant. Emotional and personal. Anecdotal and illustrative. Had I read this before Caste and/or when it first came out, perhaps 5 stars.
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