The Matter of Black Lives
Writing From the New Yorker
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · September 27, 2022
A collection of The New Yorker‘s groundbreaking writing on race in America—including work by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hilton Als, Zadie Smith, and more—with a foreword by Jelani Cobb This anthology from the pages of the New Yorker provides a bold and complex portrait of Black life in America, told through stories of private triumphs and national tragedies, political vision and artistic inspiration.
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- Who it’s for
- Essays that reward a few pages now, then keep working later.
- Genres
- African American Studies, Black History, Essay Collections
- Published
- HarperCollins, September 27, 2022
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Start with this bookAbout this book
A collection of The New Yorker‘s groundbreaking writing on race in America—including work by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hilton Als, Zadie Smith, and more—with a foreword by Jelani Cobb This anthology from the pages of the New Yorker provides a bold and complex portrait of Black life in America, told through stories of private triumphs and national tragedies, political vision and artistic inspiration.
Continue reading
It reaches back across a century, with Rebecca West’s classic account of a 1947 lynching trial and James Baldwin’s “Letter from a Region in My Mind” (which later formed the basis of The Fire Next Time), and yet it also explores our current moment, from the classroom to the prison cell and the upheavals of what Jelani Cobb calls “the American Spring.” Bringing together reporting, profiles, memoir, and criticism from writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Elizabeth Alexander, Hilton Als, Vinson Cunningham, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Malcolm Gladwell, Jamaica Kincaid, Kelefa Sanneh, Doreen St. Félix, and others, the collection offers startling insights about this country’s relationship with race. The Matter of Black Lives reveals the weight of a singular history, and challenges us to envision the future anew.
Why It Clicks
Essays that reward a few pages now, then keep working later.
Come here for
- New Yorker essays with a critic’s steadiness
- Layered reflections for a daily dip-in
Expect
- Writing that moves between public argument and close attention
- A sustained read that still breaks neatly into pieces
Where it sits
| African American Studies | 48% |
|---|---|
| Black History | 24% |
| Essay Collections | 24% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Black & African American Lives
- Lives in History
- Political Lives
- Activist Lives
Show all 8 publisher categories
- Studying History
- World History
- The Americas History
- Social History
- Authors
- Jelani Cobb, David Remnick
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- September 27, 2022
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Black & African American Lives