Caste

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ΓÇó OPRAHΓÇÖS BOOK CLUB PICK ΓÇó ΓÇ£An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöDwight Garner,The New York Times The Pulitzer PrizeΓÇôwinningbestselling 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. #1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington PostThe New York TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Boston GlobeO: The Oprah MagazineNPRBloombergThe Christian Science MonitorNew York PostThe New York Public LibraryFortuneSmithsonian MagazineMarie ClaireSlateLibrary JournalKirkus Reviews Winner of the Carl Sandberg Literary Award ΓÇó Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize ΓÇó National Book Award Longlist ΓÇó National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist ΓÇó Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist ΓÇó PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist ΓÇó PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Longlist ΓÇó Kirkus Prize Finalist ΓÇ£As we go about our daily livescaste is the wordless usher in a darkened theaterflashlight cast down in the aislesguiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about powerΓÇöwhich groups have it and which do not.ΓÇ¥ In this brilliant bookIsabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she exploresthrough an immersivedeeply researchedand beautifully written narrative and stories about real peoplehow America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste systema rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond raceclassor other factorsthere is a powerful caste system that influences peopleΓÇÖs lives and behavior and the nationΓÇÖs fate. Linking the caste systems of AmericaIndiaand Nazi GermanyWilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizationsincluding divine willbloodlinesstigmaand more. Using riveting stories about peopleΓÇöincluding Martin Luther KingJr.baseballΓÇÖs Satchel Paigea single father and his toddler sonWilkerson herselfand many othersΓÇöshe 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 castein depression and life expectancyand the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finallyshe points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisionstoward hope in our common humanity. Original and revealingCaste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and historyand a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.