Short Review of Between the World and Me
I read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates in one sitting. It was a decent book. Get this book for your library! So many people have already praised it for its great writing and incredible erudition. I felt really let down after reading his book because I was expecting so much more. Mr. Coates is a good writer, but he is not a great writer. His prose flows and I believe he has found his own voice. However, the writing is not beautiful, nor is it creative or innovative in any manner. In my opinion the most important aspects of this book are his insights on the black body. African Americans, after all, were considered products to be exploited for their value as slaves. Their (and latino) bodies are still used in such a way in the prison industry as explicated so brilliantly in Michelle Alexander's seminal work, The New Jim Crow. He COMPLETELY neglects the fact that other ethnicities (besides black people) have race issues in the U...