Customer Reviews

The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've never read a memoir quite like this one. Ta-Nehisi talks about his parents' patented "look of Not Playing" and calls the bullies from rival neighborhoods "orcs," immediately evoking faceless, hooded menaces, as chilling on the page as they likely were as he tried to outrun them, growing up. He calls Howard University "Mecca." Street smarts are The Knowledge. Tribal rites of passage you usually only read about in books on African History or see on documentaries take place on the streets DC and Northern Virginia.

The Beautiful Struggle is like an urban Pilgrim's Progress, a hip-hop infused allegory about how to survive Baltimorean boyhood, about how to overcome academic mediocrity, about how to stop acting as your own eclipse and finding some way--any way--to shine.

It feels nonlinear and random at turns, but even at its most tangential, it holds your attention and nearly every page contains a sentence so lush or confessional you can't help but envy its construction.

Dude's the real deal. Read it.

Ta-Nehisi Coates introduces readers to a new and intriguing coming-of-age story, The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons and An Unlikely Road to Manhood that takes place in Baltimore during the height of the Hip-Hop and Drug era. Paul Coates was a Vietnam Veteran who returned to the chaotic streets of Baltimore and became a leader in the city's Black Panther Party. Armed with determination, Paul Coates was a disciplinarian that strived for success and knowledge. Ta-Nehisi discusses his father's emphasis on knowledge and understanding your history in order to succeed. Ta-Nehisi admits to struggling in school as he attempted to find his way; yet he maintained the teachings of his father. He also discusses the path chosen by an older brother that teetered on self-destruction and then recovery.

Paul Coates' story is very refreshing. It is not the story of a former Black Panther but of a father's determination to raise his sons. Armed with knowledge, consciousness, common sense and self-worth, Ta-Nehisi Coates tells of his failures and triumphs into man-hood that were guided by his father and aided by his mother and teachers. Though his father was strict, you could feel the love in all of his actions. Ta-Nehisi Coates' writing style is simplistic and engaging. Each page encourages you to continue to the next. Everyone that reads it will appreciate this story but it is especially recommended for young men and those raising young men.

Reviewed by: Priscilla C. Johnson
APOOO BookClub

You know, as one escalates in age, but in particularly, in maturity with a little dose of wisdom and a touch of discernment, you begin to look at your parents as multi dimensional people. You realize, no they were not put on this earth to make your life miserable and without even consciously realizing it, the life lessons they taught you, the pitfalls they tried to keep you from falling into, become your reality. Ta-Nehisi Coates has penned a memoir for the hip hop( the ORIGINAL hip hop) generation. What I appreciated about Mr. Coates recollection of his childhood and coming of age tale was the fact that he didn't try to explain, defend or deny his father. He simply opened the door to the portals of ones mind, so that we can see the trials and triumphs of an american family. I appreciate Mr. Coates forth rightness about his father's inability to me faithful to any one woman, and how that may or may not have affected him. One of the most humorous passages of the book is when the elder Coates has enlisted Ta-Nehisi to go through the labyrinth of books and pamphlets in the garage and he proceeds to write line by line what Ta-Nehisi did or didn't do even down to Ta-Nehisi playing with his younger brother! That was classic! A heart wrenching passage is when the younger Mr. Coates shares with the reader his fathers utter disappointment and advising him of how he has shamed the Coates name. I will never forget, Ta-Nehisi advising the reader that no matter what you have heard about black men/boys, they do not want to fail or be deemed as a failure. This to me is one of the best memoirs for our generation and generations to come. I look forward to hearing more from this man.

Some stories are petit fours perfectly placed on dessert doilies and chased with chamomile tea. This story is not. This is a heartfelt center cut penned in rhythmic motion to the beat of Mr. Coates own djembe. I savored every word, marked passages that gave me goosebumps, and feared missing the next course if I put it down. Though I would've liked to know a bit more about the mother figure in this struggle, it is an aptly named triumph for both reader and writer, and in the end I dipped my biscuit in the gravy and smiled. Score one for us Mr. Coates.

As someone who grew up as a "county boy" around the same period as this book there was a lot of things that I could relate to. I saw myself and my childhood and my relationship with my father at times when reading this book. Though my experiences were not quite the same I do share a lot of similarities with the author and how he was raised.

An excellent read as well as a great insight on growing up in a city that forced you to be hard even if you were not built for that.

This is a very good book. This young man is an awesome writer. As a person who loves books and good stories by African American authors, I was very pleased with this book and highly recommend it. The title is very appropriate.

Read the book. Then read the author's blog. Then start begging him to write another book. The progression is inevitable.

That's really all there is to say.

Well, to start off with I have recently moved to TNC's (Ta-Nehisi Coates) old stomping ground, so I'm biased. The RPG-like map of West Baltimore at the start of the book was a little eery--for example the k-mart where a disturbing revelation is given to TNC by his father is where I bought my coffee grinder. For that matter I hung out and read the book in Druid Hill Park--another landmark in the book.
So yeah, if you're from B'more, buy this book. If you're not, buy this book anyway-- TNC drops some consciousness on the reader as well as some tender and intimate details about growing up as a... well a nerd... in the crack age.
And if you can't get enough of TNC he also blogs at [...]

Truly one of the most powerful, lyrical memoirs I've read. The reader aches with recognition and hope in witnessing the struggle of one young man with the force of his parents' absolute determination that he will not be lost to the streets and the dark allure of releasing his own grip and allowing the river of hopelessness, self-abandonment, and despair sweep him along and ultimately drown him. Coates' honesty is remarkable and his triumphs hard fought and hard won. The writing itself flows with the same power that is found in skillfully written poetry - it surges into the unconsciousness in almost wordless images that speak to the vulnerable and struggling part of all of us. HIGHLY recommended.

A really wonderful, insightful portrait of a young man. I'm a white kid that grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest, so my experience could not be more different from Coates's. And yet he writes so beautifully and with such feeling that you become immersed in his world. Also, if you haven't read Coates's blog (at the Atlantic), stop what you are doing and go do so now. Best blog I have ever read.