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Julian Lucas,
The New York Times Book Review
Gregarious, learned and engagingly open-minded, the book meets America where it is on the subject — which is to say, all over the place.
Rave
Kamil Ahsan,
The Boston Globe
It is for these moments, seemingly small, that Smith reserves the hush of his own surprise and learning. Rarely in a book of this scope does one find such careful reconstruction and attention to rhetoric.
Rave
HOPE WABUKE,
NPR
In rich, evocative language, Smith synthesizes first hand research, textual sources, and interviews as he weaves a lyrical and precise tapestry of the truth of America's past that many would like to continue to hide.
Rave
Claire Messud,
Harpers
... traces, in a sustained and pragmatic way, crucial sites in our historical narrative, and exposes the bitter experiences that, as Americans, we have long sought to suppress.
Rave
Martha Anne Toll,
The Washington Post
... an eminently readable, thought-provoking volume, with a clear message to separate nostalgic fantasy and false narratives from history.
Positive
Steve Donoghue,
The Christian Science Monitor
... subtle and extraordinary.
Rave
Roger I. Abrams,
New York Journal of Books
... a magnificent nonfiction retelling of America’s battle with itself over race and slavery.
Mixed
Michael Henry Adams,
The Guardian (UK)
... an intrepid trek covering lots of ground.
Rave
David Takami,
The Seattle Times
... Smith tells vivid and sometimes harrowing stories of places that reveal the history of slavery in America.
Rave
Chris Vognar,
USA Today
Smith’s purpose is never to put anyone on the spot. This isn’t Borat. What he does, quite successfully, is show that we whitewash our history at our own risk. That history is literally still here, taking up acres of space, memorializing the past, and teaching us how we got to be where we are, and the way we are. Bury it now and it will only come calling later..
Rave
Alden Mudge,
BookPage
Smith’s gifts as both a poet and a scholar make How the Word Is Passed a richly provocative read about places where the story of American slavery lives on.
Mixed
Kerri Greenidge,
The New Republic
It is an ambitious undertaking, one that Smith narrates with a beauty that is often heartbreaking as it reveals (intentionally or not) our public education system’s failure to engage students with their history.
Rave
Norah Piehl,
Bookreporter
I'm so glad that many people are eager to read this vitally important work. For me, aside from the value of uncovering, acknowledging and narrating the stories of slavery and tracing its impacts, it is a powerful testament to the value of making history public, whether in plaques that identify long-buried (literally and figuratively) sites in the shameful history of our country, or in the invaluable work of skillful tour guides, bravely telling the truth even when it makes tourists uncomfortable. It will encourage any reader to contend more deeply with our country’s history --- and maybe even set out on their own journeys of discovery and reckoning..
Rave
Katie Noah Gibson,
Shelf Awareness
... reads as both history and memoir: a stunning exploration of atrocities committed against Black people, and a thoughtful, clear-eyed account of one Black man trying to reckon with these places in the past and present.
Rave
Lesley Williams,
Booklist
... [a] powerful and diligent exploration of the realities and ongoing consequences of slavery in America..
Positive
Kate Stewart,
Library Journal
Some of the sites and histories that Smith revisits are well-known (for instance, Monticello and Sally Hemings’s story); others, such as Louisiana’s Angola prison/plantation, or the benefit Wall Street drew from slavery long after its abolition in New York, are refreshing new takes.
Rave
Kirkus
... a devastating portrait with unforgettable details.
Rave
Publishers Weekly
... moving and perceptive.