Adapted from the adult memoir by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Water Dancer and Between the World and Me, this father-son story explores how boys become men, and quite specifically, how Ta-Nehisi Coates became Ta-Nehisi Coates. As a child, Ta-Nehisi Coates was seen by his father, Paul, as too sensitive and lacking focus. Paul Coates was a Vietnam vet who'd been part of the Black Panthers and was dedicated to reading and publishing the history of African civilization. When it came to his sons, he was committed to raising proud Black men equipped to deal with a racist society, during a turbulent period in the collapsing city of Baltimore where they lived. Coates details with candor the challenges of dealing with his tough-love father, the influence of his mother, and the dynamics of his extended family, including his brother "Big Bill," who was on a very different path than Ta-Nehisi. Coates also tells of his family struggles at school and with girls, making this a timely story to which many readers will relate.

本書は、一人の少年が過酷な環境下で自己を確立するまでの軌跡を、叙情的な文体で描いた魂の記録です。元ブラックパンサー党員の父という重厚なルーツと、崩壊しゆくボルチモアの路上という現実の間で揺れる少年の内面は、単なる成長譚を超え、歴史と個人が交錯する文学的深みに満ちています。言葉の一つ一つが、読者の皮膚感覚に直接訴えかけてくるはずです。 映像版では当時の都市の喧騒や家族の熱量が鮮烈に可視化されていますが、原作本には思索の沈黙という代えがたい魅力があります。活字でしか味わえない著者独自の鋭い洞察と、映像が補完する肉体的なダイナミズム。この両輪が合わさることで、黒人としての誇りと父子の葛藤がより立体的な感動を呼び起こします。今を生きる全ての若者と大人に捧げたい、珠玉のクロニクルです。