Thick: And Other Essays (2019)

by Tressie McMillan Cottom

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709	18	32,143	(4.3)	10
Essays. Sociology. Nonfiction. HTML:One of Book Riot's "The Best Books We Read in October 2018" "To say this collection is transgressive, provocative, and brilliant is simply to tell you the truth." �??Roxane Gay, author of Hunger and Bad Feminist Smart, humorous, and strikingly original essays by one of "America's most bracing thinkers on race, gender, and capitalism of our time" (Rebecca Traister) In these eight piercing explorations on beauty, media, money, and more, Tressie McMillan Cottom�??award-winning professor and acclaimed author of Lower Ed�??embraces her venerated role as a purveyor of wit, wisdom, and Black Twitter snark about all that is right and much that is wrong with this thing we call society. Ideas and identity fuse effortlessly in this vibrant collection that on bookshelves is just as at home alongside Rebecca Solnit and bell hooks as it is beside Jeff Chang and Janet Mock. It also fills an important void on those very shelves: a modern black American feminist voice waxing poetic on self and society, serving up a healthy portion of clever prose and southern aphorisms as she covers everything from Saturday Night Live, LinkedIn, and BBQ Becky to sexual violence, infant mortality, and Trump rallies. Thick speaks fearlessly to a range of topics and is far more genre-bending than a typical compendium of personal essays. An intrepid intellectual force hailed by the likes of Trevor Noah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Oprah, Tressie McMillan Cottom is "among America's most bracing thinkers on race, gender, and capitalism of our time" (Rebecca Traister). This stunning debut collection�??in all its intersectional glory�??mines for meaning in places many of us miss, and reveals precisely how the political, the social, and the personal are almost always one and… (more)

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This was a remarkable book. Uncomfortable reading, but important topics. Thank you for writing this. (

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Greenfrog342 | Jan 22, 2024 |

So good. Searing and smart. A no bullshit insight into racism and it’s manifestations and impact. Really thoughtful and intellectually, well, thick. I couldn’t put it down.

BookyMaven | Dec 6, 2023 |

I'm always in awe of Tressie McMillan Cottom's ability to convey an argument, or sum up a point, with a sentence that makes you feel like you've been hit over the head but in a very profound way. Each of these short essays has something to offer, though as of course is the case with all essay collections the extent to which you'll connect to each one will vary from reader to reader. For me, the hardest essay to read was the one about the death of her newborn daughter thanks to medical incompetence and racism; the most bitterly funny the one about how she wants a Black woman to have the chance to write banal op-eds at a major media outlet. Highly recommended. (

)

siriaeve | Sep 1, 2023 |

This is a great book, eye-opening and intensely clear about being a black girl, then a black woman in the USA. Ms. Cottom knows so much and expresses her experience and knowledge in ways that I can understand. (

)

RickGeissal | Aug 16, 2023 |

Excellent thoughtful essays about being Black, female, a minority, and all of the above in these United States. Sending it onwards to help other people. (

)

Rubygarnet | Dec 25, 2022 |

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

BookTube Prize (Octofinalist – Nonfiction – 2020)

Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize (Winner – Nonfiction – 2019)

National Book Award (Longlist – Nonfiction – 2019)

Reading Women Award (Winner – Nonfiction – 2019)

Virginia Literary Awards (Finalist – Nonfiction – 2020)

Distinctions

The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Nonfiction – 2019)

NPR: Books We Love (2019)

Notable Lists

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection – 2019)

King County Library System Best Books (Nonfiction Books – 2019)

New York Public Library Best Books: For Adults (Top Ten – 2019)

Notable Books List (Nonfiction – 2020)

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2019

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▾Book descriptions

Essays. Sociology. Nonfiction. HTML:One of Book Riot's "The Best Books We Read in October 2018"
"To say this collection is transgressive, provocative, and brilliant is simply to tell you the truth."
�??Roxane Gay, author of Hunger and Bad Feminist
Smart, humorous, and strikingly original essays by one of "America's most bracing thinkers on race, gender, and capitalism of our time" (Rebecca Traister)

In these eight piercing explorations on beauty, media, money, and more, Tressie McMillan Cottom�??award-winning professor and acclaimed author of Lower Ed�??embraces her venerated role as a purveyor of wit, wisdom, and Black Twitter snark about all that is right and much that is wrong with this thing we call society.

Ideas and identity fuse effortlessly in this vibrant collection that on bookshelves is just as at home alongside Rebecca Solnit and bell hooks as it is beside Jeff Chang and Janet Mock. It also fills an important void on those very shelves: a modern black American feminist voice waxing poetic on self and society, serving up a healthy portion of clever prose and southern aphorisms as she covers everything from Saturday Night Live, LinkedIn, and BBQ Becky to sexual violence, infant mortality, and Trump rallies. Thick speaks fearlessly to a range of topics and is far more genre-bending than a typical compendium of personal essays.

An intrepid intellectual force hailed by the likes of Trevor Noah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Oprah, Tressie McMillan Cottom is "among America's most bracing thinkers on race, gender, and capitalism of our time" (Rebecca Traister). This stunning debut collection�??in all its intersectional glory�??mines for meaning in places many of us miss, and reveals precisely how the political, the social, and the personal are almost always one and

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