More Than Words is a nonprofit social enterprise that empowers youth who are in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a ...

Official eBay for Charity listing. Learn more
This sale benefits a verified non-profit partner.

Item specifics

Condition: Good: A book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including ... Good: A book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including scuff marks, but no holes or tears. The dust jacket for hard covers may not be included. Binding has minimal wear. The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing or tearing, minimal pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab

Narrative Type: Nonfiction

Intended Audience: Adult

Inscribed: NO

ISBN: 9780593230251

About this product

Product Identifiers

Publisher

Random House

ISBN-10

0593230256

ISBN-13

9780593230251

eBay Product ID (ePID)

11038776857

Product Key Features

Book Title

Caste : the Origins of Our Discontents

Number of Pages

432 Pages

Language

English

Topic

Ethnic Studies / General, Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Social History, Sociology / Social Theory

Publication Year

2020

Genre

Social Science, History

Author

Isabel Wilkerson

Format

Hardcover

Dimensions

Item Height

1.3 in

Item Weight

24.8 Oz, 28.9 Oz

Item Length

9.5 in

Item Width

6.4 in

Additional Product Features

Intended Audience

Trade

LCCN

2020-012794

Dewey Edition

Reviews

"It should be at the top of every American's reading list. " --Chicago Tribune "This enthralling exposé deserves a wide and impassioned readership." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Similar to her previous book, the latest by Wilkerson is destined to become a classic, and is urgent, essential reading for all." --Library Journal (starred review) Praise for Isabel Wilkerson "Wilkerson's work is the missing puzzle piece of our country's history." -- The American Prospect "[Wilkerson's] closeness with, and profound affection for, her subjects reflect her deep immersion in their stories and allow the reader to share that connection." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times "Wilkerson combines impressive research . . . with great narrative and literary power. . . . She humanizes history, giving it emotional and psychological depth." --John Stauffer, The Wall Street Journal "What she's done. . . is stow memory in amber." --Lynell George, Los Angeles Times "What Wilkerson urges . . . isn't argument at all; it's compassion. Hush, and listen." --Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, Praise for Isabel Wilkerson "Wilkerson's work is the missing puzzle piece of our country's history." -- The American Prospect "[Wilkerson's] closeness with, and profound affection for, her subjects reflect her deep immersion in their stories and allow the reader to share that connection." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times "Wilkerson combines impressive research . . . with great narrative and literary power. . . . She humanizes history, giving it emotional and psychological depth." --John Stauffer, The Wall Street Journal "What she's done. . . is stow memory in amber." --Lynell George, Los Angeles Times "What Wilkerson urges . . . isn't argument at all; it's compassion. Hush, and listen." --Jill Lepore, The New Yorker

Dewey Decimal

305.5122

Age Level

Trade

Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES READERS PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * "An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. #1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, O: The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Bloomberg, The Christian Science Monitor, New York Post, The New York Public Library, Fortune, Smithsonian Magazine, Marie Claire, Slate, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize * National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist * Winner of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award * Dayton Literary Prize Finalist * PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist * PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Finalist * Kirkus Prize Finalist "As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power--which groups have it and which do not." Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people's lives and behavior and the nation's fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Isabel Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people--including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball's Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others--she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity., #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NEW YORK TIMES READERS PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY - OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK - "An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. #1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, O: The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Bloomberg, The Christian Science Monitor, New York Post, The New York Public Library, Fortune, Smithsonian Magazine, Marie Claire, Slate, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize - National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist - Winner of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award - Dayton Literary Prize Finalist - PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist - PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Finalist - Kirkus Prize Finalist "As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power--which groups have it and which do not." Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people's lives and behavior and the nation's fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Isabel Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people--including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball's Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others--she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.

LC Classification Number

HT725.U6W55 2020

Item description from the seller

About this seller

Joined Jul 2004

More Than Words is a non-profit workforce development & youth advocacy program that serves nearly 350 youth each year. We are a youth run business empowering youth to take charge of their lives by ...

Visit store Contact

Detailed seller ratings

Average for the last 12 months

Accurate description

4.9

Reasonable shipping cost

5.0

Shipping speed

5.0

Communication

5.0

Auto/BioArts & PhotographyBusinessChildren'sReligionComics & Graphic NovelsScience & TechnologyCookingSports

Seller feedback (475,340)

This item (1)

All items (475,340)

u***l (1328)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Excellent transaction!

See all feedback

Product ratings and reviews

Learn more

4.8

75 product ratings

68 users rated this 5 out of 5 stars
3 users rated this 4 out of 5 stars
2 users rated this 3 out of 5 stars
1 users rated this 2 out of 5 stars
1 users rated this 1 out of 5 stars

Would recommend

Good value

Compelling content

Most relevant reviews

See all 73 reviews

by artwit69
Mar 05, 2024Top favourable review
Encyclopedic presentation of race as caste.
It deservedly won the Pulitzer. It is an encyclopedic survey of the author's identifying racism (especially in the South iif slavery and Jim Crow, then was copied by the German Nazis) and with the lowest caste in India, the latter less convincing to me. I ended up skimming when she would give not one example, but three for everything. Maybe because I have lived it since the early days of civil rights movement, I could skim a lot of the material, chosen for emotional impact.It deservedly won the Pulitzer. It is an encyclopedic survey of the author's identifying racism (especially in the South iif slavery and Jim Crow, then was copied by the German Nazis) and with the lowest caste in India, the latter less convincing to me. I ended up skimming when she would give not one example, but three for everything. Maybe because I have lived it since the early days of civil rights movement, I could skim a lot of the material, chosen for emotional impact.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: clickgoodwillbooks
by cirrus91
Oct 11, 2021Top critical review
A Clever Slant on an Emotional Topic That Doesn't Really Make Sense.
Isabel Wilkerson uses her very readable writing style to attempt to compare Nazi Germany, and India's religious social structure to America's deliberate and destructive "Caste" system, created by white Americans for their benefit. As with so many black authors, the first 160 pages are all about pre-1950 history and slavery, as if this is somehow justification for behavior today of ANY people. Unfortunately, the notion that Blacks in America are oppressed by White people doesn't really make sense. Rather than being discriminated against, American Blacks enjoy special rights, privileges, and advantages that are unavailable to White Americans. These advantages extend into every aspect of America’s public life and can be traced to legislation passed back in the 1960s. “A system of racial ... Isabel Wilkerson uses her very readable writing style to attempt to compare Nazi Germany, and India's religious social structure to America's deliberate and destructive "Caste" system, created by white Americans for their benefit. As with so many black authors, the first 160 pages are all about pre-1950 history and slavery, as if this is somehow justification for behavior today of ANY people. Unfortunately, the notion that Blacks in America are oppressed by White people doesn't really make sense. Rather than being discriminated against, American Blacks enjoy special rights, privileges, and advantages that are unavailable to White Americans. These advantages extend into every aspect of America’s public life and can be traced to legislation passed back in the 1960s. “A system of racial privileges for blacks was forced on universities, employers, and the population. Less qualified blacks were given preference over more qualified whites in university admissions, employment and promotion. Freezes are used against white admissions, employment, and promotion until racial balance is achieved.” Rather than being institutionally oppressed, American Blacks have been accorded a whole array of institutional advantages over Whites. This represents a truly remarkable state of affairs because it stands as the only known instance in history whereby a racial majority in power has voluntarily agreed to relinquish its standing and allow discrimination against themselves in favor of a racial minority in the name of trying to create a more equal and harmonious society - which is a good thing. It is unfortunate that amidst all this opportunity, in the year 2020, some people still feel the need to find fault and complain that their lives are somehow not within their control, all while writing books that are quickly accepted and published, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in supplemental income for their hard work and dedication.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: bookfairexpress
by bigjohnof406
Aug 11, 2021
Not compelling presentation, but a very necessary read
Everyone in US, especially white people, should read it. Much of the information will already be known by informed people, but it is presented in a new context and will therefore be processed differently than when you read it before. But the presentation does not, for me, make compelling reading like the author's book about the great migration. I had to force myself to return to this book each day, but the read was worth the effort.Everyone in US, especially white people, should read it. Much of the information will already be known by informed people, but it is presented in a new context and will therefore be processed differently than when you read it before. But the presentation does not, for me, make compelling reading like the author's book about the great migration. I had to force myself to return to this book each day, but the read was worth the effort.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: goodwillofsiliconvalley
by priceless50330
Oct 13, 2020
A must read!!
The book Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson, was inviting, informative, captivating and honest. The writer captures and explains moments in time that history books either scanned over or left out completely. She provides missing information and fills the void in history that left African American's clueless to why negative events continues to happen decade after decade. The book is engaging and her facts were supported by references throughout the chapters. I love this book and gained so much knowledge by reading it.The book Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson, was inviting, informative, captivating and honest. The writer captures and explains moments in time that history books either scanned over or left out completely. She provides missing information and fills the void in history that left African American's clueless to why negative events continues to happen decade after decade. The book is engaging and her facts were supported by references throughout the chapters. I love this book and gained so much knowledge by reading it.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-Owned
by brerd_18
Mar 18, 2023
CASTE: thoughtful and thought provoking
Extremely well written, thoughtful and thought provoking. The author uses metaphors and event descriptions to examine out history--and that of the wider world--to demonstrate how our current political turmoil, trend toward authoritarianism, and acts of inter-racial brutality are rooted in our past.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: second.sale

Picture 1 of 1

Caste (Oprah's Book Club): The Origins of Our Discontents by Wilkerson, Isabel

Shop with confidence

All net proceeds will support More Than Words Inc.

Item specifics

About this product

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Dimensions

Additional Product Features

Item description from the seller

MTW Youth

99% positive feedback•1.6M items sold

Detailed seller ratings

Popular categories from this store

Seller feedback (475,340)

Product ratings and reviews

Most relevant reviews

Encyclopedic presentation of race as caste.

A Clever Slant on an Emotional Topic That Doesn't Really Make Sense.

Not compelling presentation, but a very necessary read

A must read!!

CASTE: thoughtful and thought provoking

More to explore:

MTW Youth

99% positive feedback•1.6M items sold

Detailed seller ratings

Popular categories from this store

Seller feedback (475,340)