In Praise Of: Essays

Four Feet Under would be a good read for anyone looking to gain a deeper insight into the lives of London's homeless population. It provides a unique perspective into the challenges they face, from childhood to current day. The book is raw, real and touching, giving voice to those who are often invisible. The personal stories are accompanied by intimate photographic portraits, capturing the essence of the unique individuals that Tamsen met during her two months of listening and observation.

A Handbook of Disappointed Fate offers a refreshing perspective on the human experience, tackling unanswerable questions with a mix of wit and vulnerability. Boyer's unconventional musings on topics like illness, loss, and motherhood are sure to resonate with readers searching for deeper meaning in their lives.

The Unspeakable could be a good read for users who enjoy personal essays that bring a fresh perspective to daily experiences. Through her writing, Meghan Daum dissects our culture's illusions and blind spots while retaining her own joy and compassion. With a mix of piercing insight and funny anecdotes, Daum explores the ups and downs of life and pushes back against false sentimentality. Users who appreciate Nora Ephron's humour and Joan Didion's insight would likely enjoy this book.

A Burst of Light is a powerful collection of essays by Audre Lorde that resonates with contemporary social justice warriors. Lorde's writing tackles the intersections of race, cancer, intersectionality, parenthood, and injustice, calling for a radical politics of intersectionality. Her message of caring for oneself as an act of political warfare is particularly inspiring, and her thoughts on Black women and LGBTQ+ communities organizing, as well as her insights on erotic pleasure, continue to be relevant today. This book is recommended for readers looking to expand their understanding of anti-oppression and resistance through the lens of intersectionality.

The Drowned and the Saved is a must-read book for anyone interested in understanding the Holocaust and its long-term impact. Through his honest and powerful essays, Primo Levi challenges the popular narratives about the Holocaust and sheds light on the experiences of both victims and oppressors. His introspective approach to memory and trauma makes this book a valuable resource for students and literary readers alike. His personal experiences as a survivor bring the Holocaust to life and honor the resiliency of the human spirit.

Naked by David Sedaris would be an enjoyable read for anyone who appreciates humour and enjoys reading personal memoirs. Sedaris has an incredible ability to find the humour in everyday situations and his witty writing style will keep readers hooked. The unique aspect of this book is the honest and vulnerable portrayal of the author's life, making it relatable to many readers. Overall, Naked is a well-written and entertaining book that will leave readers feeling both amused and introspective.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'I've been wondering who might fill the intellectual void after James Baldwin died. Clearly it is Ta-Nehisi Coates' Toni Morrison'Searing. One of the foremost essayists on race in the West... [He] is responsible for some of the most important writing about what it is to be black in America today' Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good ImmigrantAn essential account of modern America, from Obama to Trump, from black lives matter to white supremacists rising - by the bestselling author of Between the World and MeObama's presidency was a watershed moment in American history. From 2008-2016, the leader of the free world was a black man. In those eight years, Obama transformed the conversation around race, gender, class and wealth - inspiring hope but also attracting criticism and breeding discontent.In this unflinching book, Ta-Nehisi Coates takes stock of Obama's eight years in power, through such iconic, unmissable essays as 'Fear of a Black President' and 'The Case for Reparations'. His account traverses the intersections of the political, the ideological and the cultural, presenting an America in radical flux and yet still in the grip of racial injustice, class warfare and institutional conspiracy. And it reflects on the author's own journey through these eight years, charting the public through the private in passages of startling intimate and piercingly relevant memoir.Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of our most brilliant, most fearless and most essential living writers - and his work is crucial to understanding race in America today.Finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize 2018Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence 2018RAVE READER REVIEWS:'Brilliantly written, incisive, and extremely relevant. Read it with your families, use it in your classrooms, give copies to your friends' (Liz)'Coates thinks more deeply and writes more clearly about the national tragedy and disgrace that is our collective failure to confront the legacy of White Supremacy than just about anyone... I can't recommend it highly enough' (Worddancer Redux)'Every white person who wants to really know how it looks from 'the other side' should take on the responsibility of reading Coates' eye-opening, informative book... A must read for everyone of every colour' (Indy JV)'A masterful understanding of how the USA really works' (shedgirl)'If you want to know the wellsprings of racism in America - then read this book!' (David C. R. Hancock)

This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative--like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it--but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book:PicturesWordsStories about things that happened to meStories about things that happened to other people because of meEight billion dollars*Stories about dogsThe secret to eternal happiness**These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!