Scan barcode
doruga's review against another edition
4.0
Ugh I love Cornel so much. Honestly this book was meant for the general public, so the bare bones of what he says in this book were nothing new to me, though his way of saying it and his perspective and observations on certain things are far more eloquent than I could ever be. In this sense Cornel is great giver of language and insight, someone who can put into words what you already know (if youre already a lover of democracy in the truest sense of the word like he is). I also found myself disagreeing with Cornel in this one, particularly on his explanation for the lethargy of the younger (my) generation. While I agree with his observations and even some of his analysis, I think he fell a little into the paternalistic trap of underestimating young people's abilities. For one though I enjoyed disagreeing with him because it made me see that i am evolving a little in my intellectual and political opinions, and am not just dogmatically following hero figures like I used to. In any case, where Cornel truly shines for me in this work (and all his works really) is in how much knowledge of other people's work he brings to the table. Its very rare to read a paragraph written by Cornel where he doesn't reference someone. This acknowledgement of those who came before him and shaped his mind is not only a great showcase of humility and a key democratization of knowledge, it also is very useful for those among us who are unfamiliar with key figures from the intellectual left both within the academia and from the ground. I have after reading this book (i listened to it really but same effect) a very long list of authors and books to read next that I either had never heard of or forgotten about. It was also super fun to see Cornel mention a columbia professor that I had the honor of learning from this semester in this book, Dr Farah Griffin. She teaches an incredible class on african american literature and to know that cornel mentored her just solidifies my love for both even further. Couldnt recommend this book more.
azure_mood's review against another edition
4.0
Should be required reading in any institution of higher learning. High school even.
siaolin's review against another edition
4.0
An important read, considering the fact that it's election season in the US now - West's writing is top notch here, powerful and urgent. Admittedly, me being a Malaysian has affected the reading experience - my knowledge on American history is limited - but it was quite enlightening to read West explain race politics, economics and nihilism in America so eloquently in this book.
theartolater's review against another edition
2.0
When I mentioned I was picking this book up, someone who I don't agree with often politically but deeply respect had mentioned he wasn't a fan. When I finished the book and talked about it with some folks, someone else who typically falls into West's ideological camp said it best - for someone of his academic stature, there sure are a lot of platitudes and not much meat to it.
I could go into a really long critique about why he's misguided/wrong. The issue with this is not so much that he's wrong, but that so much of the book is a rambly mess, with a significant amount of self-congratulatory back-patting toward the end sandwiching some interesting, but unpersuasive, arguments for his point of view. I kept finding myself thinking back to Thomas Sowell's Vision of the Anointed, which was also angry and direct, but had a lot more meat to it.
I can't recommend, and I would love to read something a little more coherent from this side of the ideological divide. Closer to a 1.5.
I could go into a really long critique about why he's misguided/wrong. The issue with this is not so much that he's wrong, but that so much of the book is a rambly mess, with a significant amount of self-congratulatory back-patting toward the end sandwiching some interesting, but unpersuasive, arguments for his point of view. I kept finding myself thinking back to Thomas Sowell's Vision of the Anointed, which was also angry and direct, but had a lot more meat to it.
I can't recommend, and I would love to read something a little more coherent from this side of the ideological divide. Closer to a 1.5.
abbyarkansas's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most important and lyrical voices alive today.
More...