The Message (Coates book)

Last updated

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 placeNew York
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), e-book, audiobook
Pages256
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' 10-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 9 reviews: 4 "Rave" reviews, 1 "Positive" review, 3 "Mixed" reviews, and 1 "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' "conspicuous" choice to keep his coverage of contemporary Israel in his narrative to his 10-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]

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. [11]

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' 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. [12]

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. [13] 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. [14] 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]

Related Research Articles

A Sister Souljah moment is a politician's calculated public repudiation of an extremist person, statement, group, or position that is perceived to have some association with the politician's own party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Morton</span> American actor (born 1947)

Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. is an American stage, television and film actor. He has worked with film director John Sayles in The Brother from Another Planet (1984), City of Hope (1991) and Lone Star (1996). Other films he has appeared in include Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Of Mice and Men (1992), Speed (1994), Apt Pupil (1998), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), What Lies Beneath (2000), Ali (2001), Paycheck (2003), Stealth (2005), American Gangster (2007), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Justice League (2017), and Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021).

Richard Martin Cohen is an American writer best known for his syndicated column in The Washington Post, which he wrote from 1976 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Goldberg</span> American journalist

Jeffrey Mark Goldberg is an American journalist and editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine. During his nine years at The Atlantic prior to becoming editor, Goldberg became known for his coverage of foreign affairs. Goldberg became moderator of the PBS program Washington Week in August 2023, while continuing as The Atlantic's editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ta-Nehisi Coates</span> American writer and journalist (born 1975)

Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates is an American author, journalist, and activist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly regarding African Americans and white supremacy.

<i>Between the World and Me</i> 2015 book by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me is a 2015 nonfiction book written by American author Ta-Nehisi Coates and published by Spiegel & Grau. It was written by Coates as a letter to his then-teenage son about his perception of what the feelings, symbolism, and realities associated with being Black in the United States are. Coates recapitulates American history and explains to his son "racist violence that has been woven into American culture." Coates draws from an abridged, autobiographical account of his youth in Baltimore, detailing his beliefs about what are the ways in which, to him, institutions like schools, the local police, and even "the streets" discipline, endanger, and threaten to "disembody" black men and women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brit Bennett</span> American writer

Brit Bennett is an American writer based in Los Angeles. Her debut novel The Mothers (2016) was a New York Times best-seller. Her second novel, The Vanishing Half (2020), was also a New York Times best-seller, and was chosen as a Good Morning America Book Club selection. The Vanishing Half was selected as one of The New York Times' ten best books of 2020, and was shortlisted for the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction.

William Paul Coates is an American publisher, printer and community activist. In 1978 he founded the Black Classic Press (BCP), devoted to publishing obscure and significant works by and about individuals of African descent, particularly previously out-of-print books, and he also established the printing company BCP Digital Printing in 1995. He is the father of award-winning author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates.

<i>We Were Eight Years in Power</i> 2017 collection of essays by Ta-Nehisi Coates

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy is a 2017 collection of essays by Ta-Nehisi Coates originally published in The Atlantic magazine between 2008 and 2016 over the course of the American Barack Obama administration. It includes the titles that launched his career: "The Case for Reparations" and "The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration". Each of the essays is introduced with the author's reflections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coleman Hughes</span> American writer and podcaster (born 1996)

Coleman Cruz Hughes is an American writer and podcast host. He was a fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and a fellow and contributing editor at their City Journal, and he is the host of the podcast Conversations with Coleman.

<i>Working</i> (Caro book) 2019 book by Robert Caro

Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing is a memoir by biographer Robert Caro about the craft of biographical research and writing.

Tony Dokoupil is an American broadcast journalist and author. Since 2019, Dokoupil has co-hosted CBS's morning program CBS Mornings. Before joining the network in 2016, Dokoupil was a news correspondent for NBCNews and MSNBC and a writer at Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

Jason Damian Hill is a Jamaican-American professor of philosophy at DePaul University in Chicago.

<i>The Water Dancer</i> 2019 novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Water Dancer is the debut novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates, published on September 24, 2019, by Random House under its One World imprint. It is a surrealist story set in the pre-Civil War South, concerning a superhuman protagonist named Hiram Walker who possesses a photographic memory, but who cannot remember his mother. He learns he has a special ability known as "conduction", with which he is able to transport people—including himself—over long distances. Conduction is powered by his memories and storytelling, and can fold the Earth like fabric, allowing travel across large areas via waterways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Jones</span> 2000 police killing in Prince Georges County, Virginia, United States

Prince Carmen "Rocky" Jones Jr. was an African-American man killed by a police officer in September 2000 in Virginia. Author Ta-Nehisi Coates attended Jones' memorial service, and later wrote at length about Jones' life and death in his 2015 book Between the World and Me, noting that the tragedies of racism are impossible to escape for Black people, even those well-off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Case for Reparations</span> 2014 article by Ta-Nehisi Coates

"The Case for Reparations" is an article written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and published in The Atlantic in 2014. The article focuses on redlining and housing discrimination through the eyes of people who have experienced it and the devastating effects it has had on the African-American community. "The Case for Reparations" received critical acclaim and was named the "Top Work of Journalism of the Decade" by New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. It also skyrocketed Coates' career and led him to write Between the World and Me, a New York Times Best Seller and winner of numerous nonfiction awards. It took Coates two years to finish this 16,000 word essay. Coates stated that his goal was to get people to stop laughing at the idea of reparations. The article has been described as highly influential, sparking an interest among politicians, activists and policy-makers to pursue reparations.

<i>Under a White Sky</i> 2021 non-fiction book by Elizabeth Kolbert

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future is a 2021 environmental book by Elizabeth Kolbert. The book follows many of the themes she explored in The Sixth Extinction.

Evan Narcisse is an American comic book writer, journalist, and video game narrative designer. Narcisse began his working career as a journalist who has reported on video games for several media outlets, such as The Atlantic, The New York Times, Time, Kotaku, io9, and Polygon. As a comic book writer, Narcisse has authored multiple titles which feature the Marvel Comics superhero, Black Panther. Since 2018, Narcisse has been involved with designing or consulting on the narrative elements of several video games, including Insomniac Games' Spider-Man video game series, Marvel's Avengers, and Redfall.

Becca Rothfeld is an American literary critic, and essayist. She won the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, and Silvers-Dudley Prize.

Rania Khalek is a Lebanese-American journalist and video host and presenter. She hosts the program Dispatches on BreakThrough News and has contributed to The Nation, The Grayzone, The Intercept, The Electronic Intifada and others.

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.
  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 October 15, 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. ↑ Sheizaf, Noam. "Reading Ta-Nehisi Coates' Book as an Israeli Who Documents the Occupation" . Haaretz. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.


Black-American Heritage Flag.png

This article about a non-fiction book on African-American topics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.