It’s possible that a cat on my lap–along with holiday busyness–distracted me while reading this book, and maybe that’s why it did not resonate with me the way his other books have. Written as a letter to his writing students at Howard University, the book consists of three essays that all speak – loosely – of the power of story. That seems to be what connects the pieces and what connects him to his intended audience, though it’s easy to forget that he is speaking to his students throughout the book because long sections make no reference to them, and to the fact that he is circling back to the purpose of writing and writers. 

And since each essay is based on visiting a particular place, the essays are also travelogues: the story of what he sees, hears, feels, and does in each place, and always a reminder that the stories we have learned are often not the stories of truth, and that “truth” is often defined and retold by those in power.

The first essay centers on Dakar, Senegal and the slave trade, though he admits that it’s more of a mythical heart of the slave trade than an actual origin story. For him, it’s a pilgrimage to the landmass where slavery began and of his ancestry.  

Essay two takes him to South Carolina, where a teacher is fighting to keep his previous book, “Between the World and Me”, in her AP English class as an example of argument writing infused with voice. Here we get a recap of book bans, hysterical parents, and Confederate monuments. 

Essay three, the longest and the one that caused great controversy over the book, recounts his 10 day trip to Israel-Palestine in the summer of 2023 where he concludes that this is a “Holy Land of barbed wires, settlers, and outrageous guns” (147) and “a democracy for the Jewish people and the Jewish people alone” (145). 

While the book felt disjointed and its purpose a bit unclear, he does convey his experiences in well told stories–perhaps not journalistically researched stories, but powerful personal narratives. I’m not sure that’s enough to match a title such as “The Message,” though. 

Curious how others are viewing this book.