Re-posted by Nicholas Stix
How I wish I could take the credit for the following review. Alas, I can’t. But I have reprinted it for your reading pleasure.
I have to disagree with my VDARE.com colleague Steve Sailer: The Great Ta-Nehisi is the second coming of James Baldwin!
Between the Racist World and Ta Coates
ByAlfonso Duponton
July 24, 2015
Amazon
Ta Coates is one of the great thinkers of the 21st century. Don't agree? Then you're on the wrong side of history.
Ta has written a book for the ages, chronicling such fascinating episodes as dating, doing poorly in academics because of racism, reading comic books, the racism of attractive white women he has asked out, what it was like to be in a down-low relationship with Matt Yglesias for five months, cartoons, and the phenomenon known as "muhdik." Between the World and Me (a brilliant title that counterbalances the entire world with Ta Coates' genius) ranks with the Confessions of St. Augustine, if St. Augustine had done poorly in school and mostly just watched television and read comic books during his formative years. In fact St. Augustine is a rather trivial figure in Western history that you don't need to have heard of, he never even influenced society through highly praised magazine columns, and his books are very boring compared to reading about the adventures of men in colorful skin tight costumes.
During a long and rambling eighth chapter, Ta discusses his brave decision to disable comments on his blog. He shows how talking back to a highly paid media personality is an example of "punching down," employing a series of stories which usually involve noting that people who have promoted him are actually racist and did so only because they expected him to fail. There's also a moving account of how he literally wept on discovering how to turn on Microsoft Word's spelling and grammar checker.
As A.O.Scott has observed, Between Ta World and Me is "essential, like water or air", a truism you'd have to be a real hate-in-your-soul racist to deny. As a matter of fact, people who are too racist to read and enjoy this brilliantly spelled and grammar-checked volume are expected to die very soon because this book is literally essential, like water or air. An edition in which all of the book's passages are placed as dialogue between comic book heroes Black Lightning and Luke Cage is said to be in the works.
Like Ta's 14-year-old son, you may not be interested in reading through the many spelling and grammar corrected pages of this book, but even just having it on your bookshelf is important until the forthcoming graphic novel version arrives. How will they know you're not a racist otherwise? I personally enjoy reading it while enjoying water and air, two things that like this book are essential. Thus I give it the first star rating of excellence.
"The Great Ta-Nehisi IS the second coming of James Baldwin."
ReplyDeleteI like it. On target as usual.
The story would make a really cool movie. Denzel Washington could play tai-dash-Coates and Rachel Dolezar or maybe Rachel Jeantel could play his wife.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe they're stupid enough to still publish black "writers". The quickest way to destroy the narrative of egalitarianism is to let people actually read what blacks write. I'm surprised the editors would actually print this book without all the heavy editing that lets people hear the hidden voice of black writing, or white editorials overlaying black writing I should say.
ReplyDeleteJoshua,
ReplyDeleteThere's no danger of that happening, since the only whites who read these characters are lefties who've drunk the Kool-Aid.
I have a personally autographed copy of Thomas Sowell's autobiography.
ReplyDeleteThis buffoon is not fit to shine Sowell's boots. - RC
A computer may be able to correct his spelling but it can't raise his low IQ. He looks stupid and ugly and looks always count.
ReplyDeleteEgalitarianism? My suggestion for a cure of this in Chicago is to listen to WVON in the morning for an hour or two. This will teach even the most stubborn lefty nitwit that blacks think ONLY about themselves and everything they say is simply deception to extract money and privileges from whitey.
ReplyDelete