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alisonjfields's review against another edition
5.0
I have a strong feeling that everyone in America would benefit from reading this book--or even just a few of the masterful, heartbreaking, furious essays from this book. It's that good and that important.
lclowe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
dljmsw's review
5.0
This is excellent. It has been on my to-read list for a very long time and I read it for the Read Harder Challenge: #5 Read an anthology featuring diverse voices.
mcf's review against another edition
4.0
Any new book about race in modern America is immediately thrust into great, potentially intimidating company, a group headlined by Between the World and Me and Invisible Man Got the Whole World Watching. If that new book about race also happens to bear a title that intentionally echoes that of one of the seminal books on that topic, it's placed in even more elite company. All of this is simply to say that, fairly or not, expectations (mine, at least) are high for The Fire This Time.
And there are certainly standout essays therein, particularly Kiese Laymon's gorgeous "Da Art of Storytellin' (a prequel)", about his grandmother, OutKast, and love, Garnette Cadogan's "Black and Blue," on walking while black, Daniel José Older's glorious letter to his wife, "This Far, Notes on Love and Revolution," and "Blacker than Thou," Kevin Young's hilarious, brutal essay on Rachel Dolezal and blackness. That said, at times I found myself irrationally disappointed by the book. None of the essays in the opening section on history, for example, grabbed me like I'd hoped, and the stellar nature of the specific works mentioned above inevitably created unreasonable expectations for the collection as whole (as if it is even possible to create consistency of tone, manner, and intensity across a collection of work by 15 different thinkers).
Definitely recommended, for its perspective on America today, and for the connection that each reader will no doubt make with a handful of the included works. Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.
And there are certainly standout essays therein, particularly Kiese Laymon's gorgeous "Da Art of Storytellin' (a prequel)", about his grandmother, OutKast, and love, Garnette Cadogan's "Black and Blue," on walking while black, Daniel José Older's glorious letter to his wife, "This Far, Notes on Love and Revolution," and "Blacker than Thou," Kevin Young's hilarious, brutal essay on Rachel Dolezal and blackness. That said, at times I found myself irrationally disappointed by the book. None of the essays in the opening section on history, for example, grabbed me like I'd hoped, and the stellar nature of the specific works mentioned above inevitably created unreasonable expectations for the collection as whole (as if it is even possible to create consistency of tone, manner, and intensity across a collection of work by 15 different thinkers).
Definitely recommended, for its perspective on America today, and for the connection that each reader will no doubt make with a handful of the included works. Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.
judyapneeb's review against another edition
5.0
Gorgeous writing. I fell in love with Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah's essay. I am excited for whenever she releases an independent work in the future.
liketheday's review against another edition
3.0
Not all of these essays are especially polished or organized or straightforward, but all of them are true, and I definitely recommend this collection to anyone looking to make sense of the world today.
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cwagner555's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short essays and poems. Each story flowed into the next and all the voices of the authors connected to send the message that we are far from a country where everyone is free. The fears, anxieties, and stories of black Americans need to be read by all. I'm a huge fan of Jesmyn Ward which is why this book in particular stood out to me and I was not disappointed. Everyone should read this!