CitizenCitizen
Score Modern
What it's about
Claudia Rankine's book is part poetry, part essay and part art book, built from the small, daily moments in which race intrudes: a colleague's careless remark, a stranger who won't sit beside you on a train, a friend who calls you by the wrong name. Written mostly in the second person, it puts "you" inside those moments. It widens out to Serena Williams on the tennis court, Zinedine Zidane's World Cup headbutt, Hurricane Katrina and Trayvon Martin, with images and artwork alongside the text.
Why it's worth reading
It's one of the defining books of its decade, on both the New York Times and the Guardian lists of the century's best, and it won the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. It turns something hard to name into something you can feel.
You'll love it if you liked
Between the World and Me
The Fire Next Time
Notes of a Native SonGood to know
It's short and can be read in an afternoon, but it's meant to be lingered over. The print edition matters, because the images are part of the work.
By the numbers
- Readers86 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics80 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller19 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #21 of the 309 literary novels we rank
- #93 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #168 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Moving
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Quick answers
Is Citizen worth reading?
Yes. It's one of the defining books of its decade, on both the New York Times and the Guardian lists of the century's best, and it won the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. It ranks #168 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 84.3 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Citizen about?
Claudia Rankine's book is part poetry, part essay and part art book, built from the small, daily moments in which race intrudes: a colleague's careless remark, a stranger who won't sit beside you on a train, a friend who calls you by the wrong name. Written mostly in the second person, it puts "you" inside those moments. It widens out to Serena Williams on the tennis court, Zinedine Zidane's World Cup headbutt, Hurricane Katrina and Trayvon Martin, with images and artwork alongside the text.
How long does it take to read Citizen?
About 4 hours (169 pages), or about 8 days at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Citizen?
If you liked it, try Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin or Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin.