Tag: America
-
Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Catalina is radiant and irresistible. I could read a thousand pages narrated by this character.
-
When the Clock Broke by John Ganz
When The Clock Broke is an engaging and enlightening bit of history. It does a great job of showing how little has changed in the past 3 decades.
-
Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen
Surviving Autocracy was finished in early 2020. In it, Masha Gessen presents the reality of the terrifying moment, and perhaps a preview of the near future.
-
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Shattering, beautiful and essential
-
The Trees by Percival Everett
What if Mel Brooks and Jordan Peele wrote an Elmore Leonard novel? This is unbelievably good.
-
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Essential reading. Even if you have no interest in American history or the Civil War.
-
James by Percival Everett
Everett’s interpretation of the slave character from Huckleberry Finn is subversive, funny, thrilling and thought-provoking.
-
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Gaines’ 1993 story of a Black man’s execution in the 1940s is urgent, upsetting and unforgettable.
-
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson
This is an excellent progressive history of the United States, and contextualizes a lot of our modern moment for people who feel like America has gone crazy since about 2016. Problem is, I’m a history and politics nerd, so for me there wasn’t a lot to chew on here. That’s my problem though, not the…
-
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
For the record, if it matters, I’m not American. I read the 10th anniversary edition of this book that has a lengthy preface (the first edition was published in 2010, the second in pre-pandemic 2020). The first came out shortly after Obama’s first election, and presciently, Alexander doesn’t fall into the trap of optimism that…