Reviews - We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

1.25k reviews for:

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

Ta-Nehisi Coates

4.43 AVERAGE

angelads3's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

If read with an open mind, this book should make most people look at U.S. politicians and elections--especially presidential ones--through a lens of history and not of identity.

baileybryant's review against another edition

5.0

Coates is so soothing to read. It feels incredible to finally be in the mood for him again after nearly five years. The shortcomings of this collection of essays (e.g., a limited perspective on women) are essentially, I believe, an unfortunate side-effect of how deeply self-reflective his writing is. You can sense the urgency in his explorations. His writing is an art, a form of self-expression - It has limits, it is deeply personal. It cannot and will not be everything for everyone, but what it does offer is truly incredible.

Coates weaves together profoundly existential questions with political and historical analysis in a way that is both devastating and invigorating. But he does not write to answer these questions for his readers, nor does he claim to have the answers. Coates writes in order to reckon with the world around him, himself, his identity, his country. He writes to make meaning. He writes because he must. His writing is searching, explorative, vulnerable, and unmatched. What a gift it is to witness in all its honesty and strength.

(More 4/4.5 but it reignited something in me, so 5!)