What do you think?
Rate this book
We're Alone: Essays
Tracing a loose arc from Edwidge Danticat's childhood to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in Haiti, the essays gathered in We're Alone include personal narrative, reportage, and tributes to mentors and heroes such as Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Gabriel García Márquez, and James Baldwin that explore several abiding environmental catastrophe, the traumas of colonialism, motherhood, and the complexities of resilience.From hurricanes to political violence, from her days as a new student at a Brooklyn elementary school knowing little English to her account of a shooting hoax at a Miami mall, Danticat has an extraordinary ability to move from the personal to the global and back again. Throughout, literature and art prove to be her reliable companions and guides in both tragedies and triumphs.Danticat is an irresistible presence on the full of heart, outrage, humor, clear thinking, and moral questioning, while reminding us of the possibilities of community. And so "we're alone" is both a fearsomeadmission and an intimate invitation-we're alone now, we can talk. We're Alone is a book that asks us to think through some of the world's intractable problems while deepening our understanding of one of the most significant novelists at work today.
192 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication September 3, 2024
About the author
Edwidge Danticat
119 books2,572 followersEdwidge Danticat was born in Haiti and moved to the United States when she was twelve. She is the author of several books, including Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection; Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist; and The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner. She is also the editor of The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States and The Beacon Best of 2000: Great Writing by Men and Women of All Colors and Cultures.
Danticat earned a degree in French Literature from Barnard College, where she won the 1995 Woman of Achievement Award, and later an MFA from Brown University. She lives in Miami with her husband and daughters.
Danticat earned a degree in French Literature from Barnard College, where she won the 1995 Woman of Achievement Award, and later an MFA from Brown University. She lives in Miami with her husband and daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 14, 2024
This collection of essays feels like a walk down a quiet beach, and then suddenly finding yourself in the midst of violent lawlessness coupled with natural disasters.
Expertly written and arranged, Danticat came to the US from Haiti at a young age without knowing any English. She is now both an accomplished writer and a professor at Columbia. As her narrative shifts from her personal story to the story of her origin country, she creates a tapestry that leaves me hungry for more.
The stark contrast of a corrupt government where political and class divisions benefit the rich at the cost of everyone else is an unsettling reminder of why our votes matter in our country, and why we must do better.
So glad I finally got around to reading this author!
Expertly written and arranged, Danticat came to the US from Haiti at a young age without knowing any English. She is now both an accomplished writer and a professor at Columbia. As her narrative shifts from her personal story to the story of her origin country, she creates a tapestry that leaves me hungry for more.
The stark contrast of a corrupt government where political and class divisions benefit the rich at the cost of everyone else is an unsettling reminder of why our votes matter in our country, and why we must do better.
So glad I finally got around to reading this author!
April 12, 2024
A collection of essays varying in scope but all grounded in different degrees to the authors connection and early life in Haiti. My favorite essay was They are Waiting in the Hills - Danticat weaves together her personal relationships with and her relationships to the writing of six authors (Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Audre Lorde, Lorraine Hansberry, Paul’s Marshall). The essays in this collection address themes of colonialism, climate disaster, grief, and place with a sense of intimacy and care. I’m honored to have received this arc from Graywolf press and recommend picking up a copy of We’re Alone when it comes out this September.
April 6, 2024
ARC for review. To be published September 3, 2024.
A collection of essays including ones on the most recent natural disasters in Haiti, the assassination of Haiti’s president and the kidnapping of missionaries in the country and loss, in general.
A quiet, contemplative book. Definitely not a feel good book, but I liked it. Always the best for a good look at Haiti, past and present.
A collection of essays including ones on the most recent natural disasters in Haiti, the assassination of Haiti’s president and the kidnapping of missionaries in the country and loss, in general.
A quiet, contemplative book. Definitely not a feel good book, but I liked it. Always the best for a good look at Haiti, past and present.
May 14, 2024
Thank you NetGalley and Graywolf Press for an ARC of this book!
This is a poignant collection of essays which speak to many subjects relating to the author's own life experience. Covering topics from the author's childhood growing up in Haiti, to the Covid-19 pandemic, these essays will leave you thinking and contemplating relationships between the individual and the world.
I really enjoyed the essays which weaved the authors experiences with famous writers. Each section for each author felt like the reader obtained an even more intimate understanding of the Danticat's writing relationship with each of these influences.
This is a poignant collection of essays which speak to many subjects relating to the author's own life experience. Covering topics from the author's childhood growing up in Haiti, to the Covid-19 pandemic, these essays will leave you thinking and contemplating relationships between the individual and the world.
I really enjoyed the essays which weaved the authors experiences with famous writers. Each section for each author felt like the reader obtained an even more intimate understanding of the Danticat's writing relationship with each of these influences.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews