Between the World and Me

The 2015 book was written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a prominent American journalist and national correspondent for The Atlantic. It was written as a deeply personal letter from Coates to his teenage son, Samori.

Yes, Ta-Nehisi Coates won the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction for this memoir. The book was widely celebrated for its powerful prose and unflinching examination of race in America.

The book explores the harsh realities, dangers, and historical legacy of being Black in the United States. Coates heavily critiques the concept of the American Dream and examines how the country's institutions have historically placed Black bodies at risk.

The entire text is structured as an extended, nonfiction letter directly addressed to the author's son. This epistolary format mirrors James Baldwin's classic work The Fire Next Time, which heavily inspired Coates.