*Please note: The cover for this book has this teaser underneath the author's name "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize" - yes the author is a winner of this award, but not for this particular book (it was awarded due to his work for The Washington Post and MSNBC). Just want to clarify.

Gwen Ifill, one of the anchor's of PBS's news program(s), summed up this book nicely with her back cover blurb:

...Eugene Robinson neatly explodes decades' worth of lazy generalizations about race in America. At the same time, he raises new questions about community, invisibility, and the virtues and drawbacks of assimilation. An important book.

After finishing reading this book, I definitely agree with Ifill. I do admit to some bias towards Mr. Robinson and his commentary, as I often (but not always) agreed with him when he appeared on Keith Obermann's news program Countdown (man, I miss that show - entertaining and enlightening). This bias led me to pick this book up.

Robinson breaks down his big ideas with studies, statistics that go beyond headline-grabbing numbers (actual analysis - YAY!), and personal experiences. His writing is very conversational, which made the book hard to put down (I ended up spending more time on the cardio machines at the gym because I didn't want to put the book down until the end of the chapter). What you won't find is snark or condescension for the reader or the subject matter. This was written in order to inform and provoke interesting conversations, not to be a viral sensation. It may seem like a quieter book than others on the same subject(s), but for me that makes the book work all the more. 

However, Robinson is not afraid to put forth some solutions that would take a lot of financial and political capital, that could be seen as controversial. But he explains his arguments with facts and logic; he also acknowledges that his solutions are not going to be easy.

One part that I did not agree with Robinson was his support for "education reformer" (quotes intended) Michelle Rhee. That was about all of one or two sentences in the entire book, but I intensely do not like Rhee or her work, so it stood out to me.

Overall, 5 stars.

P.S. - sorry to my international followers who had to read this review and have no idea of the American media references found here.

Coates writes beautifully and plainly to explain his experience and wisdom to his son. Though his son is the intended reader, his words are something everyone should read. There's no simple way to explain what he talks about because he covers so many topics, though it can be said that they all relate to the lack of security that a black body has historically had in the United States.

But it's so much more than that. He doesn't lament the unfairness of the world or advocate the innocence of anyone. He just points out the realities and that they are a part of life. He doesn't even insist that his son or anyone change things, but accept that they are what they are for now. No change can happen without realizing the state that we all are in. 

I loved Coates's elegant style of writing and the way it was poetic and brutal in its own way. So much of the content of this book have been said in other ways by other people and they were missing something. Coates isn't apologetic or inflammatory, which made the whole experience of this book enlightening in a whole new way for me. 

Read this. Read it even if you want nothing to do with race relations. Read it even if you consider yourself someone who doesn't "see race." Read it no matter what your race is. Especially, read it if you live in the US. 

Writing about literature shouldn't make intangible feelings obvious ones. It shouldn't pantomime nuance, or float those subtleties an author steeped into the novel’s tone. This is how it is to write about Kindred, a story rife (for any time) with aching parallels, and built on that bonework of slavery that America has so often broken in literature and, in life, reset:  everything you mouth ruins the words.  Kindred isn't an easy novel to read, and will take time to assimilate, and that is the best an author could hope for: that the novel lasts and lives -- uncomfortable and, for a time, inarticulate -- inside those who read it.  That is how we can talk about it.  In how it worms inside us, and in how we see something like that level of abuse living inside the people we love, the people we are.  It’s an underskin, and it feels base to split apart, instead of ourselves, a novel that does so well at making us know better the inner muscles of the world we inherit, and inhabit, and pollute with misunderstanding and actionless self-knowledge.  Let the ugly part of literature live for a while, and perhaps spare that ugliness from the rest of the world, until you are able to recognize and articulate how much it is yourself.

Attention people. Go read this book. 

I need to do some PR for it because I can see it is getting no love. None whatsoever. And it's another jigsaw puzzle of the racism question. Wachtel decided to tackle the problem from psychological point of view or as he (constantly) calls it : vantage point (seriously, Paul, there are PLENTY of synonyms). 

Anyway, yes. It is very interesting. Half of the book deals with the so called vicious circles and the self perpetuating quality of most of the discrimantion related problems. We skillfully worked ourselves into a situation when the effect causes the cause and then the cause causes the effect and we no longer know which is which and we will be stuck in this FOREVER. Don't fret, though. He offers solutions as well. 

The other half of the book is just one big disclaimer. See, Paul L Wachtel is a white dude, so he is treading on thin ice here. In my opinion he is impeccable. 

His book won't fully please the liberals and definitely won't please the conservatives (especially the Bell Curve sort of idiots) but it pleased me, and that's all that matters (as I am the only one that actually read the book). 

He really does go deep into people's psyche and will have you question yourself. Even if you are as liberal as they get, it might turn out, that you, in fact, are racist as well. Or prejudiced at least, let's not be too harsh, you didn't deserve it. At some point I started freaking out that maybe I am racist as well, you know. But then I remembered I have a black friend. So definitely not. Phew. 

Ok, now I am off to read something silly. 
Peace!