{"product_id":"how-the-word-is-passed-a-reckoning-with-the-history-of-slavery-across-america","title":"How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Clint Smith, in his new book \"How the Word Is Passed,\" has created something subtle and extraordinary.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eChristian Science Monitor\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The Atlantic writer drafts a history of slavery in this country unlike anything you've read before.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"What [Smith] does, quite successfully, is show that we whitewash our history at our own risk. That history is literally still here, taking up acres of space, memorializing the past, and teaching us how we got to be where we are, and the way we are. Bury it now and it will only come calling later.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The power of an itinerant narrator--Smith journeys to Monticello, Angola Prison, Blandford Cemetery, and downtown Manhattan--is that it reveals slavery's expansive, geographical legacy. Smith tells his stories with the soul of a poet and the heart of an educator.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Sketches an impressive and deeply affecting human cartography of America's historical conscience...an extraordinary contribution to the way we understand ourselves.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eJulian Lucas, New York Times Book Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Raises questions that we must all address, without recourse to wishful thinking or the collective ignorance and willful denial that fuels white supremacy.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMartha Anne Toll, The Washington Post\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"This isn't just a work of history, it's an intimate, active exploration of how we're still constructing and distorting our history.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eRon Charles, The Washington Post\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The summer's most visionary work of nonfiction is this radical reckoning with slavery, as represented in the nation's monuments, plantations, and landmarks.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdrienne Westenfeld, Esquire\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Part of what makes this book so brilliant is its bothandedness. It is both a searching historical work and a journalistic account of how these historic sites operate today. Its both carefully researched and lyrical. I mean Smith is a poet and the sentences in this book just are piercingly alive. And it's both extremely personal--it is the author's story--and extraordinarily sweeping. It amplifies lots of other voices. Past and present. Reading it I kept thinking about that great Alice Walker line 'All History is Current'.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Green, New York Times bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The detail and depth of the storytelling is vivid and visceral, making history present and real. Equally commendable is the care and compassion shown to those Smith interviews -- whether tour guides or fellow visitors in these many spaces. Due to his care as an interviewer, the responses Smith elicits are resonant and powerful. . . . Smith deftly connects the past, hiding in plain sight, with today's lingering effects.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eHope Wabuke, NPR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Both an honoring and an exposé of slavery's legacy in America and how this nation is built upon the experiences, blood, sweat and tears of the formerly enslaved.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Root\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eClint Smith\u003c\/b\u003e is a staff writer at \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the author of the narrative nonfiction book, \u003ci\u003eHow the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America\u003c\/i\u003e, which was a #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller and one of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Top Ten Books of 2021. He is also the author of the poetry collection \u003ci\u003eCounting Descent. \u003c\/i\u003eThe book won the 2017 Literary Award for Best Poetry Book from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. He has received fellowships from New America, the Emerson Collective, the Art For Justice Fund, Cave Canem, and the National Science Foundation. His writing has been published in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review\u003c\/i\u003e and elsewhere. Born and raised in New Orleans, he received his B.A. in English from Davidson College and his Ph.D. in Education from Harvard University. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"An important and timely book about race in America.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eDrew Faust, Harvard Magazine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"In this exploration of the ways we talk about -- and avoid talking about -- slavery, Smith blends reportage and deep critical thinking to produce a work that interrogates both history and memory.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKate Tuttle, Boston Globe\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"With careful research, scholarship, and perspective, Smith underscores a necessary truth: the imprint of slavery is unyieldingly present in contemporary America, and the stories of its legacy, of the enslaved people and their descendants, are everywhere.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTeenVogue\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Merging memoir, travelogue, and history, Smith fashions an affecting, often lyrical narrative of witness.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"History is often contested ground; people argue over whose stories matter, and how they are communicated. In this personal, thoughtful book, Smith visits the landmarks and museums that attempt to tell Americans the story of slavery. Along the way, he talks to all kinds of people, encountering moments of anger and denial as well as sparks of hope, humanity and grace.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeople, Black History Month reading list\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis \"important and timely\" (Drew Faust, \u003ci\u003eHarvard Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e) #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller examines the legacy of slavery in America--and how both history and memory continue to shape our everyday lives.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks--those that are honest about the past and those that are not--that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola, a former plantation-turned-maximum-security prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country's most essential stories are hidden in plain view--whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods like downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women, and children has been deeply imprinted. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Informed by scholarship and brought to life by the story of people living today, Smith's debut work of nonfiction is a landmark of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country and how it has come to be. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Stowe Prize \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of 2022 Hillman Prize for Book Journalism \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 10 Best Books of 2021\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/01\/2021 pg. 54 (EAN 9780316492935, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/22\/2021 (EAN 9780316492935, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/15\/2021 (EAN 9780316492935, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/15\/2021 pg. 14 (EAN 9780316492935, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/span\u003e 11\/30\/2021 (EAN 9780316492935, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Little Brown and Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496040464662,"sku":"9780316492935","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780316492935.jpg?v=1783051525","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/how-the-word-is-passed-a-reckoning-with-the-history-of-slavery-across-america","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}