Citizen

Citizen

  • by Claudia Rankine
  • Narrated by Allyson Johnson
  • 1 hrs and 37 mins
  • Unabridged Audiobook
4.58 (216
Ratings.
)

Publisher's Summary

Claudia Rankine's bold new audiobook recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in 21st-century daily life and in the media. Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams and the soccer field with Zinedine Zidane, online, on TV - everywhere, all the time. The cumulative stresses come to bear on a person's ability to speak, perform, and stay alive. Our addressability is tied to the state of our belonging, Rankine argues, as are our assumptions and expectations of citizenship.

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What the Critics Say

"Combining poetry, essay, and images from media and contemporary art, Rankine's poetics capture the urgency of her subject matter." (Publishers Weekly)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful

Powerfully moving all round.

Reading poetry is often a private experience, the voice we hear is our own; but Johnson nails it. Her performance conveys Rankine's subtle use of language and powerful cultural critique. I loved the section on Serena Williams which made me want to scream, laugh and cry all at once.
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- Vincent O

So. Important.

Listening to this made me angry and uncomfortable, perhaps because, as a white person, it's easy for me to elect to see or acknowledge racism, and this book puts you (literally by use of the second person) at the center of it, as the victim, the witness, the occasional perpetrator. You can't ignore it. To make the reader feel even a fraction of what people of color feel on a daily basis is such a huge accomplishment. Beautiful work.
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- Amazon Customer

Book Details

  • Release Date: 04-21-2015
  • Publisher: Tantor Audio
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