I was blown away by this book. I knew about many of the issues, real-life stories, and themes of this book, but the way the author illustrates how they all relate ultimately shows us how we have created a Caste system in our society. It was a very eye-opening read. The author writes with intelligence and elegance about a very difficult subject. Caste is an important and timely read for our current situation in the United States.
Christine Roh, IT & Circulation Librarian
Synopsis
“In the haunted summer of 2016, an unaccustomed heat wave struck the Siberian tundra on the edge of what the ancients once called the End of the Land.” -first line
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns identifies the qualifying characteristics of historical caste systems to reveal how a rigid hierarchy of human rankings, enforced by religious views, heritage, and stigma, impact everyday American lives.
About the Author
Wilkerson’s journalist background comes through in her well researched style and compelling writing. She won the Pulitzer Prize for a profile on a fourth-grader from Chicago’s South Side and two additional stories on the 1993 Midwest flood. Her previous book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, richly details one of the great untold stories of American history – the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled from the South for northern and western cities. This work took the former journalist 15 years to research and write!
Wilkerson also won the 2015 National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities. She won for “championing the stories of an unsung history. Her masterful combination of intimate human narratives with broader societal trends allows us to measure the epic migration of a people by its vast impact on our Nation and on each individual life.”
Read-a-Likes
Appeal Terms
How do you describe the books you love to read? Appeal terms help us describe what it is about a book that would make us recommend it to others. These come from the NoveList database, which librarians love! You, too, can use and explore this database free with your library card.
Genre
Non-fiction, Society, and Culture
Writing Style
Compelling, Incisive, Stylistically Complex
Tone
Thought-provoking
Awards & More
- National Book Foundation’s Longlist for National Book Award’s Non-fiction category, 2020
- Goodread’s Choice Awards Best History & Biography, 2020
- Oprah chose this book for her book club, calling the book “required reading for all humanity.”
- LibraryReads Favorites, 2020
- New York Times Notable Books, Non-fiction, 2020
This blog post was created by librarians from Park City Library with help of information found in NoveList – a database which is free with your library card. NoveList is a comprehensive reading recommendation resource.