The Message

The Sunday Times bestseller from the renowned author of Between the World and Me

De: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Narrado por: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Brought to you by Penguin.

With his bestseller, Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates established himself as a unique voice in his generation of American authors; a brilliant writer and thinker in the tradition of James Baldwin.

In his keenly anticipated new book, The Message, he explores the urgent question of how our stories – our reporting, imaginative narratives and mythmaking – both expose and distort our realities. Travelling to three resonant sites of conflict, he illuminates how the stories we tell – as well as the ones we don’t – work to shape us.

The first of the book’s three main parts finds Coates on his inaugural trip to Africa – a journey to Dakar, where he finds himself in two places at once: a modern city in Senegal and the ghost-haunted country of his imagination. He then takes readers along with him to Columbia, South Carolina, where he reports on the banning of his own work and the deep roots of a false and fiercely protected American mythology – visibly on display in this capital of the confederacy, with statues of segregationists still looming over its public squares. Finally in Palestine, Coates sees with devastating clarity the tragedy that grows in the clash between the stories we tell and reality on the ground.

Written at a dramatic moment in American and global life, this work from one of the country’s most important writers is about the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive myths that shape our world – and our own souls – and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths.

© Ta-Nehisi Coates 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Reseñas de la Crítica

The Message charts Coates’s re-entry as a public intellectual . . . The rolling, elegiac cadences of much of his earlier work have yielded to a fury that’s harder edged. But a sense of shock also seems to have elicited in Coates a sense of possibility . . . [Coates] is using his position of prominence and moral authority to draw attention to the plight of Palestinians. Having lived the life of the famous Black writer in mostly white professional spaces, someone who has been both venerated and vilified, he finds in his new community “the warmth of solidarity.” Instead of being the singular voice or the incomparable expert, Coates offers himself as an ally

Ta-Nehisi Coates roams from Senegal to Palestine to South Carolina in these candid essays unified by his belief that, as stories shape us, journalism should reflect the world, warts and all

Coates makes a compelling argument for why we need to educate ourselves, seek clarity and not lose our morals. He urges us to have tough conversations, question what we read and understand the power of writing in politics. At a time when it feels as if the truth is under attack from all sides, The Message is a thought-provoking wake-up call and a must-read

Ever since his Baldwin-inflected Between the World and Me, Coates has been known for his incisive (and sometimes uncomfortable) cultural and political commentary. Here he journeys from West Africa to the American South to Palestine to examine how the stories we tell can fail us, and to argue that only the truth can bring justice

There are few, true, public intellectuals anymore. But Ta-Nehisi Coates is unquestionably foremost amongst them. His new book, The Message, is a sweeping exploration of how stories shape our politics

A revelatory meditation on shattering journeys . . . Interweaving autobiography and reportage, Coates examines race, his identity as a Black American, and his role as a public intellectual

An earnest and intimate exploration of locations of extreme injustice, and of the power of writing to render a more compassionate—and more honest—future . . . At once a rallying cry and a love letter to writing itself, the book is an urgent reminder that “politics is the art of the possible, but art creates the possible of politics

Brilliant and timely . . . Coates presents three blazing essays on race, moral complicity, and a storyteller’s responsibility to the truth. . . . Coates exhorts readers, including students, parents, educators, and journalists, to challenge conventional narratives that can be used to justify ethnic cleansing or camouflage racist policing

Coats always writes with purpose . . . These pilgrimages for him, ground his powerful writing about race

The revolution will not be televised but I do believe it will succeed!

Reading this book in November 2024, my heart broken by the west having answered a question I used to ask myself growing up- How could the world let the Holocaust occur, how could neighbours betray their neighbours to mass graves…now I know and my heart is broken.

Ta-Nehisi has written a masterful book that I believe will be looked at in 50-75 years and people will ask themselves as. I did in the 90’s growing up in South Africa - how did they let this happen??

Truth be told, a crazy journalist made me buy this book but Ta-Nehisi made me stop in my tracks and realise the gravity of allowing one’s past trauma blind you when you have become the monster you once fought against.
We pray for Palestine and for the people to return to their land ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽

The Message: A Profound Reflection on Identity and Systemic Injustice

Teh Ne-Hesi’s The Message is a deeply resonant exploration of identity, culture, and the enduring legacies of systemic oppression. As a fourth-generation Indian South African, born into the shadows of apartheid and still navigating the systemic ramifications of that crime against humanity, this book strikes an intensely personal chord. Ne-Hesi’s ability to weave together themes of historical injustice, collective memory, and personal empowerment creates a narrative that feels both universal and deeply intimate.

For someone shaped by the complex intersection of resilience and exclusion, The Message captures the raw truths of marginalisation while offering a roadmap for reclamation and self-empowerment. The reflections on inherited trauma and the ongoing fight for equality mirror my lived experience in a society still grappling with the structural inequalities rooted in apartheid. Ne-Hesi’s work is not just a call to action but a reminder that the journey of healing and change is both deeply personal and profoundly collective. It’s a book that speaks to the soul of anyone who has lived through systemic oppression and yearns for a future shaped by justice and unity.

Thank you for sharing your experiences

This book was eye opening to me especially after years of believing different views about the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Thank you for opening my eyes and challenging me to think critically. I was beyond moved. I will be buying copies to share with family and friends for sure

As always the style in which the author's story is told.

I like how he expressed his truth. his life and his interpretation on the wider world based on the world he came from.