Between the World and Me (2015) by Ta-Nehisi Coates

 Audiobook Review

Between the World and Me (2015)

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

100 Best Books of the 21st Century (New York Times): #36

  My tour through the non-fiction picks on the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century by the New York Times continues with #36, Between the World and Me by journalist/author Ta-Nehisi Coates.  It reminded me very much of another book on this list, Citizen by Claudia Rankine (#34).  Both books are first-person works of non-fiction about the experience of being an "African-American body" and the daily threats that such a person faces.  I found value in both books, even though my career as a criminal defense attorney has afforded me many moments of contemplation over the impact of the criminal justice system on the bodies of its subjects.  At the same time, I feel like the adulation of books like this one as well as Citizen have something to do with the fact that Donald Trump won a second term as President.

  If you assume that the New York Times Best Books of the 21st Century represents, broadly, the Democratic perspective on the world, you might also look for ideas as to where they/we went wrong in convincing normal Americans to support "the good guys."   My thought, after reading both Between the World  and Citizen, is that Democrats/the left, spends their time lambasting the grievance/identity based politics of the right, while at the same time elevating voices from the left with the exact same perspective.  What are books like Between the World and Me and Citizen if they are not both based on grievances (justified, sure) and identity. 

  At the same time, personally, outside of the context of national politics, the African American non-fiction section of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list has really given me thought about how hostile an environment the day-to-day experience of living in this country is for any human being with black skin.