This small book packs a big punch. The writing is fluid and smart, and the structure - written as a letter to his 15 year old son - helps it land square in your gut. It definitely opened my eyes and helped me understand what it is to be "brown" in the United States - and the sins we're all guilty of, even if our ancestors weren't slave-holders.

Additionally, I hadn't realized Coates was friends with Prince Jones and would write about him in this book. When his name popped up, I stopped, cold. I knew Prince - he worked in my gym and was always ready with kind words and a friendly smile. I remember being shocked when he was killed - but I hadn't realized the greater context of blue-on-black killings at the time. This book would've been powerful without a personal connection to one of his subjects, but that tipped it over the edge for me.

And the ending - he does a masterful job pulling up to an even broader perspective of where we are in the world and the fate that awaits us all. I suspect people who found some of his language or ideas tough to grasp will find some common ground in those final sentences.

I'll have to go read the book that won this category for the 2015 Pulitzer, because I'm struggling to see how anything could've topped this.