So You Want to Talk about Race
“Oluo takes on the thorniest questions surrounding race, from police brutality to who can use the ‘N’ word.”
New York Times
A Harper’s Bazaar Pick of One of 10 Books to Read in 2018
A Vogue Pick of 7 Books to Change Your Life
A January New York Times Pick of New and Noteworthy
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
An AudioFile Editors’ Pick for Black History Month
A Library Journal Editor’s Pick for Celebrating Black History Month
A Literary Hub Pick of the Week
A Los Angeles Times Pick of 5 Fantastic New Audiobooks
A Bustle Pick of Books about Race
A Paste Magazine Pick of the Best Audiobooks
Longlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize for Nonfiction
A Bustle Pick of Books about White Supremacy and How to Combat It
Finalist for the 2018 Society of Voice Arts and Sciences Award for Best Self-Help/Wellness Narration
Shortlisted for the 2019 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award
Longlisted for the 800-CEO-Read Business Book Award for Personal Development
An Audiofile Magazine “Best of the Year” Audiobook
A Shelf Awareness Best Books of the Year selection
An Audible Pick of Audiobooks Most Likely to Start a Positive Conversation about Race
A CNBC Pick of 7 Books That Execs Say Everyone Should Read
Finalist for the 2019 Washington State Book Award for Nonfiction
A BookRiot Pick of Nonfiction about Racism
A Kirkus Reviews Pick of Books That Challenge Racism
A Goop Pick of Anti-Racism Books
A BuzzFeed Books Pick of Essential Reads about Anti-Racism
A Libro.fm Audio bestseller
#1 New York Times bestseller in Paperback Nonfiction
New York Times Bestseller in Audio
An iBooks bestseller in Audiobooks
In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a revelatory examination of race in America
A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today’s racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide
In So You Want to Talk about Race, editor-at-large of the Establishment Ijeoma Oluo offers a contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the “N” word. Perfectly positioned to bridge the gap between people of color and white Americans struggling with race complexities, Oluo answers the questions readers don’t dare ask, and explains the concepts that continue to elude everyday Americans.
Oluo is an exceptional writer with a rare ability to be straightforward, funny, and effective in her coverage of sensitive, hyper-charged issues in America. Her messages are passionate but finely tuned, and crystallize ideas that would otherwise be vague by empowering them with aha-moment clarity. Her writing brings to mind voices like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Roxane Gay, and Jessica Valenti in Full Frontal Feminism, and a young Gloria Naylor, particularly in Naylor’s seminal essay “The Meaning of a Word.”
“Oluo takes on the thorniest questions surrounding race, from police brutality to who can use the ‘N’ word.”
New York Times
“Read it, then recommend it to everyone you know.”
Harper’s Bazaar
“While so many people want to become ‘thought leaders,’ ‘bloggers,’ or even just ‘influential,’ Oluo is eons past that.”
Forbes
“A unique attempt to bridge the gap between Americans who talk and think regularly about race in America and those who don’t—most typically, white people…Impassioned and unflinching.”
Vogue
“Narrator Bahni Turpin’s impassioned voice clearly conveys the gravity of this book on race and racism…Turpin walks listeners through each chapter, allowing them time to absorb the impact of topics from Affirmative Action to police brutality…[and] Turpin engagingly reads real-life examples Oluo uses to illustrate complex concepts such as intersectionality and white privilege…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
AudioFile
“Important and relevant. Police brutality, micro-aggressions at the workplace, and affirmative action are all grist for the verbal mill. Narrator Turpin has a soothing voice and reads with authority, understanding, and passion…Both narrator and author are worth seeking out again.”
Los Angeles Times (audio review)
“Delivers a punch while describing the realities of blackness in America.”
Bust magazine
“With urgency, grace, and a straightforward sensibility, Oluo talks about race, exploring intersectionality, privilege, cultural appropriation, microaggression, and a great deal more…Highly recommended.”
Library Journal (starred review)
“A well-organized, well-argued, and lively collection of essays…Oluo is persuasive, sympathetic and funny. She is also direct…This is a challenging, sympathetic, and beautifully organized how-to manual.”
Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“Precise, poignant, and edifying, this primer gives readers much-needed tools…and offering concrete ways to confront racism…[while] blending personal accounts and meticulously cited research…This is essential reading.”
School Library Journal (starred review)
“Insightful and trenchant but not preachy…A topical book in a time when racial tensions are on the rise.”
Publishers Weekly
“A clear and candid contribution to an essential conversation.”
Kirkus Reviews
“This book is much-needed and timely. It is more than a primer on racism. It is a comprehensive conversation guide.”
Literary Hub
“It’s the most direct and disarming approach to the topic that I’ve ever read.”
Leslie Berland, CMO of Twitter
“In a clear, direct, matter-of-fact tone, Oluo mixes memoir with guidance, walking the reader through some of the most complicated, and in many cases, deadly conversations the country is having (or not having) today. I have gone back to it again and again..It should be on everyone’s bookshelf.”
Glynnis MacNicol, Contently Award-winning author of No One Tells You This
“You are not going to find a more user-friendly examination of race in America than Ijeoma Oluo’s fantastic new book. The writing is elegantly simple, which is a real feat when tackling such a thorny issue. Think of it as Race for the Willing-to-Listen.”
Andy Richter, writer and actor
“Oluo has created a brilliant and thought-provoking work. Seamlessly connecting deeply moving personal stories with practical solutions, readers will leave with inspiration and tools to help create personal and societal transformations. A necessary read for any white person seriously committed to better understanding race in the United States.”
Matt McGorry, actor
Bahni Turpin, winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and several prestigious Audie Awards for her narrations, was named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine in 2019. Publishers Weekly magazine named her Narrator of the Year for 2016. She is an ensemble member of the Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. She has guest starred in many television series, including NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Six Feet Under, Cold Case, What about Brian, and The Comeback. Film credits include Brokedown Palace, Crossroads, and Daughters of the Dust. She is also a member of the recording cast of The Help, which won numerous awards.