We Were Eight Years In Power - Softcover

Coates, Ta-Nehisi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241982499 ISBN 13: 9780241982495

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, 2018

Synopsis

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'I've been wondering who might fill the intellectual void after James Baldwin died. Clearly it is Ta-Nehisi Coates' Toni Morrison'Searing. One of the foremost essayists on race in the West... [He] is responsible for some of the most important writing about what it is to be black in America today' Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good ImmigrantAn essential account of modern America, from Obama to Trump, from black lives matter to white supremacists rising - by the bestselling author of Between the World and MeObama's presidency was a watershed moment in American history. From 2008-2016, the leader of the free world was a black man. In those eight years, Obama transformed the conversation around race, gender, class and wealth - inspiring hope but also attracting criticism and breeding discontent.In this unflinching book, Ta-Nehisi Coates takes stock of Obama's eight years in power, through such iconic, unmissable essays as 'Fear of a Black President' and 'The Case for Reparations'. His account traverses the intersections of the political, the ideological and the cultural, presenting an America in radical flux and yet still in the grip of racial injustice, class warfare and institutional conspiracy. And it reflects on the author's own journey through these eight years, charting the public through the private in passages of startling intimate and piercingly relevant memoir.Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of our most brilliant, most fearless and most essential living writers - and his work is crucial to understanding race in America today.Finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize 2018Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence 2018RAVE READER REVIEWS:'Brilliantly written, incisive, and extremely relevant. Read it with your families, use it in your classrooms, give copies to your friends' (Liz)'Coates thinks more deeply and writes more clearly about the national tragedy and disgrace that is our collective failure to confront the legacy of White Supremacy than just about anyone... I can't recommend it highly enough' (Worddancer Redux)'Every white person who wants to really know how it looks from 'the other side' should take on the responsibility of reading Coates' eye-opening, informative book... A must read for everyone of every colour' (Indy JV)'A masterful understanding of how the USA really works' (shedgirl)'If you want to know the wellsprings of racism in America - then read this book!' (David C. R. Hancock)

About this title

About the Author

TA-NEHISI COATES is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Between the World and Me, winner of the National Book Award. A MacArthur 'Genius Grant' Fellow, Coates has received the National Magazine Award, the Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism, and the George Polk Award for his Atlantic cover story 'The Case for Reparations'. He lives in New York with his wife and son.

Review

Probably the most discussed magazine piece of the Obama era * New York Magazine on 'The Case for Reparations' * I've been wondering who might fill the intellectual void that plagued me after James Baldwin died. Clearly it is Ta-Nehisi Coates -- Toni Morrison on 'Between the World and Me' Coates' always sharp commentary is particularly insightful as each day brings a new upset to the cultural and political landscape laid during the term of the nation's first black president. [A] crucial voice in the public discussion of race and equality, and readers will be eager for his take on where we stand now and why * Booklist * It's this timeless timeliness--reminiscent of the work of George Orwell and James Baldwin--that makes Coates worth reading again and again * Publishers Weekly * Brilliant and troubling...required reading * Vogue.com * Fiercely passionate, intelligent and clear-eyed * Newsday * We Were Eight Years in Power is a brilliant summation of Coates' essential philosophies... We're witnessing greatness. The man and his writing will be studied and revered for generations * Minneapolis Star Tribune * [Coates is] the pre-eminent black public intellectual of his generation * The New York Times * We Were Eight Years in Power is an essential text to understand the America we're living in today * W Magazine * Coates eloquently unfurls blunt truths ...There is no disputing that Coates writes what he means and speaks what he feels. To have such a voice, in such a moment, is a ray of light * USA Today * Across his oeuvre, Coates' prose style and literary prowess are hip-hop sharpened: he believes in the art of dexterous reference, potent, lyrical critique and political storytelling * Baltimore Sun * Coates's probing essays about race, politics, and history became necessary ballast for this nation's gravity-defying moment... Essential * The Boston Globe * Biting cultural and political analysis from the award-winning journalist . . . His conclusions are disquieting, his writing passionate, his tenor often angry.... Emotionally charged, deftly crafted, and urgently relevant essays" * Kirkus * Powerfully charged * GQ * Coates, then, succeeds twice over, in justifying not only his account of one election, but the importance of his entire body of work * The New Statesman * A wake up call... more compelling than almost any other public voice about the state we're in. He eloquently conflates the personal, political and existential, while telling it like it is * The Observer * America's latest literary wunderkind... such a prodigious talent * The Sunday Times * [R]aw and hard to read. You'll never forget his point of view, nor should you * Glamour * Thus, We Were Eight Years in Power serves as a clarion call for vigilance about the possible erosion of African-American advances presumed sacrosanct. Consider these riveting, well-reasoned ruminations of the most-prodigious black visionary around a must-read indeed * The Mississippi Link * Simply put, incredible. One of the foremost essayists on race in the West * Nikesh Shukla * Ta-Nehisi Coates is probably the only magazine writer in the world who articles are heralded with the same fervor that might greet the release of the latest Radiohead or Beyonce album * Financial Times *

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0241982499
• ISBN 13: 9780241982495
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384