A collection of the New Yorker‘s groundbreaking writing on race in America, including work by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hilton Als, Zadie Smith, and more

From the pages of the New Yorker comes a bold and telling portrait of Black life in America, with astonishing early work from Rebecca West’s account of a lynching trial and James Baldwin’s ‘Letter from a Region in My Mind’ (which later formed the basis of The Fire Next Time) to more recent writing by Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Zadie Smith, Hilton Als, Jamaica Kincaid, Malcolm Gladwell, Elizabeth Alexander, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Doreen St. Félix, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Kelefa Sanneh, and more.

Reaching back across the last century, The Matter of Black Lives includes a wide array of material from the New Yorker archives ranging across essays, reported pieces, profiles, criticism, and historical pieces. This book addresses everything from the arts to civil rights, matters of justice, and politics, and brings us up to the present day with accounts of what Jelani Cobb calls “The American Spring.” The result is a startling, nuanced and, ultimately, indelible portrait of America’s complex relationship with race.

The Matter of Black Lives is a compelling collection that explores the African history and social theory, offering a profound understanding of the activists journey. This top-rated autobiography by Jelani Cobb is a literary masterpiece that encapsulates the essence of the American Spring.

For fans of Lenny Henry (Rising to the Surface), Ta-Nehisi Coates (We Were Eight Years in Power), Thomas Harding (Hanns and Rudolf), Catherine Flynn (The New Joyce Studies), and Lea Ypi (Free).

The Matter of Black Lives: Writing from The New Yorker

The Matter of Black Lives: Writing from The New Yorker