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ndalum's review against another edition
4.0
I won't write of the political meanings of this book but I would like to remind others to have empathy and try to understand what others go through.
lectrice's review against another edition
4.0
3.5: Uneven collection, with some outstanding selections and others I skimmed or skipped.
pearseanderson's review against another edition
3.0
Read this as prep for Tales of Two Planets, and thought it was alright! I think I enjoyed the fiction the most, some of the essays by white people felt like they were, I dunno, maybe not coming from the voices I needed to hear in this anthology. Claire Vaye Watkins' piece is amazing, of course. Onto Trick Mirror!
wormkingz's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
2.25
Any anthology will have variation in quality across the pieces in it, but the variation in this particular book is stunning. The stories range from beautifully written and emotional stoties (dosas, fault lines, some houses, la ciudad mágica, enough to lose) to informative and emotional writing (blood brother, american arithmetic) to absolutely apalling and seemingly counter to all the book has to say. some of the latter are death by gentrification (usage of police brutality for shock value), american work (pitying trump supporters and claiming they voted for him because he promised jobs), white debt (a white woman trying to distance herself from her white guilt, featuring her saying the n word), and invisible wounds (pitying veterans from the war in the middle east). These stories all embody what this anthology should be fighting against; they ignore race issues or take advantage of the suffering of minorities or pity people responsible for carrying american imperialism to the middle east. some of the writing in this is incredible, but the rest is apallingly liberal and ignorant.
mad_taylh's review against another edition
4.0
"'All you have to do,' he tells me, 'is give a little bit of understanding to the possibility that life might not have been fair.'"
cpiresch's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed the variety and range of these pieces. The balance made what would otherwise be a depressing subject matter illuminating, genuine, and surprising. Recommended!
aribookie's review against another edition
4.0
This is an important read. Some of the stories were better than others, duh.
galenb's review against another edition
4.0
Works that tell the stories of those who have been forgotten, oppressed, downtrodden. Some of them weren’t for me, and some of them were incredible. Worth a read for just about everyone.
katebelt's review against another edition
3.0
Engaging collection of essays with a few short stories and poems with contributions many well known writers, including some of my favorites: Rebecca Solnit, Tim Egan, Anthony Doerr, Ann Patchett, Edwidge Danticat