Caste

Regular price
$20.00
Regular price
Sale price
$20.00
Shipping calculated at checkout.
#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.
  • Hurry, only 10 items left in stock!
Caste

FAQs

Can you order a book for me?

Of Course!

Whether it's an out of stock title, or an item we don't yet carry, email us: illumebooksnbpt@gmail.com

Please provide the title and author in your request.

Do you provide shipping?

We provide shipping using USPS to the United States only.

If you prefer to pickup your order in-person, please select "Pick Up" during checkout.

What is the return policy?

merchandise returns for store credit within 14 days. No returns on Illume Essence, art & unwrapped games. All returns at discretion of the bookseller.

Are all of your products available online?

While we do our best to offer as much of our inventory online as possible, the best way to see everything is to stop by! ✨

We have small rotations of home decor, our reading inspiration gallery (shop made and oh so shiny), chess sets, and more.

Curation and "Why Don't You Carry..."

Illume is an experience for readers that's meant to showcase a careful selection of titles much in the same way an art gallery would display an exhibition.

Titles are always shown "cover forward", and our inventory rotates to reflect current reader interests, shifting topics, and obscure finds. That said, we LOVE recommendations! Let us know what you're looking for, or what your favorite reads are. You may find them on the shelves soon!

Whether you're a stacked to the brim library connoisseur, or a minimalist looking for a rare gem... we hope you'll enjoy our open space, find a new treasure, and experience the cozy reading couch🤍