(Goodreads rating override: 4 stars for the importance of the content, not for how I “liked it”. I didn’t actually like it. More on that later.)

This is important material. And to the best of my knowledge, no other book covers half of this, so I’m going to say: read it. Don’t expect to enjoy it, and DON’T try the audiobook, but do read it. Please. We need you to. Because every reminder we get of the humiliations suffered by blacks in this country, every word that hits our hearts, every description of the putrid vile subhumans running Virginia in the fifties and sixties, is one more vote in November to oust the putrid vile subhumans running Washington today. (I write this in 2018 but by November I mean “every fucking November for the rest of your life”).

Hidden Figures is several books in one. Primarily it’s the story of the human “computers”—mostly Black women with highly advanced mathematical knowledge and skills—who invisibly and reliably made the calculations that resulted in not only the U.S. Space Program but also the aircraft that won WWII, the first supersonic flight, and the refinements that led to today’s commercial air travel. Also primarily it’s the story of racism, bigotry, hatred, and pure evil that still exists in the US today. Shetterly intertwines stories of the everyday hurdles that Blacks had to undergo, and she makes you feel them. All of this is important material.

Unfortunately, the book itself is less than readable. To borrow a line from my friend Chris, a line I fully intended to start with: “I so wanted to like this book.” I couldn’t. It’s choppy, clunky, awkwardly written. Intrusive similes; rococo language; jumpetyjumpy timeline with too many characters (major and minor). I started with the audiobook but gave it up; switched to ebook and still found myself struggling to keep track of who what when where. The material kept me going despite the writing.