The Message (Coates book)

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The Message
The Message Ta-Nehisi Coates book cover.jpg
First edition cover
Author Ta-Nehisi Coates
Audio read byTa-Nehisi Coates
LanguageEnglish
Publisher One World
Publication date
October 1, 2024
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), ebook, audiobook
Pages256 pp.
ISBN 978-0-593-23038-1
(First edition hardcover)

The Message is a nonfiction book by American author Ta-Nehisi Coates, published on October 1, 2024, by Random House under its One World imprint. [1] The Associated Press described it as "part memoir, part travelogue, and part writing primer." [2] The narrative reflects on his visits to Dakar, Senegal; Chapin, South Carolina; and the West Bank and East Jerusalem. [3] The latter half of the book covers Coates's ten-day trip in the summer of 2023 to Israel-Palestine – in his first time in the region [4] – and his argument against "the elevation of factual complexity over self-evident morality." The New York Times called it "the heart of the book, and the part that is bound to attract the most attention." [5] According to a profile in New York , The Message "lays forth the case that the Israeli occupation is a moral crime, one that has been all but covered up by the West." In the book, Coates writes, "I don't think I ever, in my life, felt the glare of racism burn stranger and more intense than in Israel." [3]

Contents

Reception

Reviews were generally positive, with the review aggregator website Book Marks assigning the book a "Positive" score based on 11 reviews: 4 "Rave" reviews, 2 "Positive" review, 3 "Mixed" reviews, and 2 "Pan". [6]

Kirkus Reviews , in its starred review, evaluated the book as a "revelatory meditation on shattering journeys." [7]

Jennifer Szalai of The New York Times questioned Coates's "conspicuous" choice to keep his coverage of contemporary Israel in his narrative to his ten-day trip — and not also include mention of the October 7 attack on Israel or the subsequent Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. [5]

Daniel Bergner of The Atlantic condemned Coates as having sacrificed crucial complexity: "Purity of argument is Coates's desire; complexity, his self-declared enemy. In this, in his refusal to wrestle with conflicting realities, the essay feels desperate. It feels devoid of the layers and depths of the most profound moral writing, devoid of the universalist goal, the exploration of 'common humanity' that Coates has extolled. Complexity, not purity, is the essence of the moral and the humane." [8]

Becca Rothfeld of The Washington Post defended the book from pro-Israel critics, but still described it as "disjointed, heavy-handed and frequently clichéd", pointing to sentences such as "The only way I ultimately survived was through stories" and "You wonder if human depravity has any bottom at all, and if it does not, what hope is there for any of us?" [9] Perry Bacon Jr., also of The Washington Post, was more positive, saying that "the writing in this book is lyrical, the reporting richly detailed, and almost every page offers a new and important insight or articulates an idea you had in your head but hadn't fully put together." [10] Likewise, Hassan Ali Kanu of The American Prospect was complimentary towards the book's lyrical qualities, writing that he found its treatments of the question of minority writers politicizing their works, and of colorism, black nationalism and social inequality in post-colonial African society compelling. [11]

In Haaretz , the journalist and documentarian Noam Sheizaf wrote that while The Message was not the "ultimate book" about Israel's occupation of the West Bank, it nevertheless offered a "critical perspective" for liberal Israeli readers. [12]

Writing in The Oberlin Review , editor-in-chief Nikki Keating said in conclusion about Coates: "His reflections remind us that writing is more than a craft; it is a duty, a means of preserving truth, and a path to liberation. Through his travels and reflections, Coates shows that we each have the power to honor our past and to fight for a just future — whether by sharing stories of resilience from Senegal, standing up to censorship in South Carolina, or bearing witness to struggles in the West Bank." [13]

CBS Mornings interview

In an interview with Tony Dokoupil co-anchor on CBS Mornings on September 30, 2024, Dokoupil took exception to the chapter of the book dedicated to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dokoupil implied that Coates's book "reads like the work of an extremist" and also questioned whether Coates denied Israel's right to exist or was offended by the mere existence of a Jewish state. [14]

After the CBS interview, Tony Dokoupil met with members of CBS News's Race and Culture Unit, focusing on his "tone of voice, phrasing and body language" after a group of CBS News employees expressed concern to executives about how he handled the interview. [15] Network executives Adrienne Roark and Wendy McMahon said in an all-staff meeting, audio of which was leaked by The Free Press, that the interview had not followed the network's principle of neutrality, though legal correspondent Jan Crawford pushed back and defended Dokoupil. [16] Dokoupil was also defended by Paramount chair Shari Redstone. [17] Rothfeld accused both Dokoupil and the Free Press's Coleman Hughes, who wrote that Coates had a "desire to smear Israel", of "perform[ing] an activity that barely even resembles reading. In their haste to peg Coates as the Face of a Movement, they are intent on doing anything and everything but attending to the actual book he has written." [9]

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References

  1. ↑ Italie, Hillel (May 30, 2024). "Ta-Nehisi Coates returns to nonfiction and explores the power of stories in upcoming 'The Message'". AP News . Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  2. ↑ Merrill, Rob (October 1, 2024). "Book Review: Ta-Nehisi Coates visits Senegal, South Carolina and the Middle East for 'The Message'". AP News. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Spaeth, Ryu (September 23, 2024). "The Return of Ta-Nehisi Coates". Intelligencer . Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Book Review: Ta-Nehisi Coates Visits Senegal, South Carolina and the Middle East for 'The Message'". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. October 1, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Szalai, Jennifer (September 29, 2024). "Ta-Nehisi Coates Returns to the Political Fray, Calling Out Injustice" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on September 29, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Book Marks reviews of The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates". Book Marks. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  7. ↑ "The Message". Kirkus Reviews . August 2, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  8. ↑ Bergner, Daniel (September 24, 2024). "The Problem With Moral Purity" . The Atlantic . Archived from the original on September 26, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  9. 1 2 Rothfeld, Becca (October 5, 2024). "Review | In 'The Message,' Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about the stories that fuel bigotry". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  10. ↑ Bacon Jr., Perry (October 4, 2024). "Opinion | Why you should read Ta-Nehisi Coates's new book". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  11. ↑ Kanu, Hassan Ali (December 12, 2024). "Palestine, Writing, and Everything Else". The American Prospect. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  12. ↑ Sheizaf, Noam (November 5, 2024). "Reading Ta-Nehisi Coates' Book as an Israeli Who Documents the Occupation" . Haaretz. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  13. ↑ Keating, Nikki (November 8, 2024). "A Review of The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates" . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  14. ↑ Sommer, Will (October 1, 2024). "Ta-Nehisi Coates and Tony Dokoupil sharpen morning TV with Israel debate". The Washington Post . Retrieved October 4, 2024. Dokoupil suggested that Coates's book reads like the work of an extremist. 'If I took your name out of it, took away the awards, and the acclaim, took the cover off the book, the publishing house goes away — the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist,' Dokoupil said.
  15. ↑ Grynbaum, Michael M.; Mullin, Benjamin (October 7, 2024). "CBS Rebukes Anchor Over Tense Interview With Ta-Nehisi Coates". The New York Times . Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  16. ↑ Barr, Jeremy (October 8, 2024). "CBS News exec says Ta-Nehisi Coates interview didn't meet standards". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  17. ↑ Battaglio, Stephen (October 9, 2024). "Shari Redstone backs 'CBS Mornings' host over controversial Ta-Nehisi Coates interview". Los Angeles Times.


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