Caste
The Origins of Our Discontents
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Caste
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Narrated by:
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Robin Miles
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Written by:
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Isabel Wilkerson
About this listen
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • “An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
The Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions—now with a new Afterword by the author.
#1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, O: The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Bloomberg, The Christian Science Monitor, New York Post, The New York Public Library, Fortune, Smithsonian Magazine, Marie Claire, Slate, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews
Winner of the Carl Sandberg Literary Award • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • National Book Award Longlist • National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist • Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist • PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Longlist • Kirkus Prize Finalist
“As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.”
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched, and beautifully written narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their outcasting of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.
Original and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.
©2020 Isabel Wilkerson (P)2020 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
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Publisher's Summary
A riveting and award-winning look at the nature of inequality in the United States, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening listen from Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson.
Isabel Wilkerson is an American journalist and the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for her narrative reporting. Her tireless work in the field has earned her many prestigious awards, including the National Humanities Medal, and she was also a Kirkus Prize finalist in 2020. In Caste, Wilkerson explores the connections between colonial India, Nazi Germany, the Jim Crow era, and the state of inequality in America today. Going beyond race, class, and other factors, she reveals a cruel system of human rankings that has marginalized and harmed people across civilizations throughout history and continues to do so. Grounded in extensive research and the real-life experiences of figures from Martin Luther King, Jr., and baseball’s Satchel Paige to ordinary men, women, and children, Caste has been hailed an instant American classic. It will leave an indelible mark on all who listen.
Narrating this great audiobook is Robin Miles. With titles like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Montessori Baby on her list of credits, her expert inflection brings these harrowing true stories and historical facts to life in impactful ways.
Caste is under development for a Netflix original film written, produced, and directed by filmmaker Ava DuVernay.
What the critics say
"This enthralling exposé deserves a wide and impassioned readership.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
“Similar to her previous book, the latest by Wilkerson is destined to become a classic, and is urgent, essential reading for all.” (Library Journal, starred review)
"This is a brilliant book, well timed in the face of a pandemic and police brutality that cleave along the lines of a caste system.” (Booklist)
What listeners say about Caste
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2020-08-11
One of the Most Important Teachings Ever Written
Caste is a masterpiece. What at first seems to be well known, the problem of prejudice and racism, begins to take on new meanings and perspectives as an enabler of a larger caste system. To say that this is vividly explained in the form of vignette stories is an understatement. As the author brings you with her through the depth and detail of her research I began to appreciate the amount of personal bravery it must have taken her to bring to light the more severe atrocities of the caste system. I was riveted and shocked and convinced of her overall explanation of caste in our society. Many modern phenomena are thoroughly explained by Caste. The knowledge in Caste is without doubt a gigantic leap forward in the understanding our real culture and a further gigantic step towards the end of modern day enslavements big and small.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- D Camara
- 2021-11-28
Top
The best book on race I've listened to or read. The stories are heartbreaking. Worst of all, they are happening as of this writing. What I still don't get after reading /listening to this book is how human being reached this level of stupidity? Structuring a society in an hierarchical way doesn't benefit the society at all. So how can one feel good about putting other people down, if not weakness?
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sam Grace
- 2022-11-19
This book is the best book I have ever read 2nd to the Holy Bible.
So much history and unbiased truths. This is a book for everyone on earth. The fact of the world's history is painful, especially that of the US. The more I read this book, the more I saw the demonic influence behind the evils of humankind. Yet Isabel doesn't just give facts to lead the reader to bitterness and division but to guide us to a place of enlightenment. We belong to each other and are better as one! Thank you for this blessed work!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kerryanne H
- 2020-09-02
A MUST READ FOR EVERY RACE AND AGE GROUP
I learned so much reading this book. This lie of Caste and Racism has been adopted by the world for too long now. This book solidifies for me, that our Creator did not intend this evil for any of us. It's may hope that anyone reading this book will live the rest of their lives not contributing to such an evil. Isabel brought clear understanding of the origins of our discontent. Let's us all demantle this mental slavery. Thank you Isabel for an amazing book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2022-04-23
Perhaps Flawed, but an Important Read
Really well narrated and rich in information and research. She's a terrific writer and makes a compelling case for the persistence of systemic racism in America. (I also had no idea that the Nazis had used America as their model for their pogroms against the Jews and other groups). I think it was at times repetitive and my biggest issue with it was the short-shrift she gave Indigenous peoples - esp. since it was so thorough in so many other ways. All in all, though, an important read by a skilled writer.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Vicki Romanin
- 2023-01-13
Gripping!!
Gripping...the author cracks it ALL open. Not an exaggeration to say this book could be life changing. Researched and written by an American, for Americans, we all (everyone from every country) should have this as required reading in our schools. Listen with your ears, mind and heart...
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hebron
- 2021-01-21
Brilliant and Eye Opening
Isabel Wilkerson does a monumental work in taking the very complex and deep sociological functions of Caste within three cultures in three different epochs and weaves them into one meaningful and eloquent thesis that is easy to read and understand. This is a read I highly recommend, especially to those who are in any form of leadership or in any way want to be a better human. Well done Dr. Wilkerson, well done!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Kristine
- 2021-05-11
a great read!
This book was well written and narrated. A way to help understand how we've ended up where we are today. A eye opener!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- C Pauchuk
- 2020-10-28
a must read for everyone - especially white people
if we're ever going to live in a world that truly knows peace, this book is a great place to start. we can't change what we don't see, know or acknowledge.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- susan
- 2022-07-06
Please Read This Book!
One of the most insightful and meaningful books I’ve ever read. Everything is so-well explained.
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