United States Senator and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker makes the case that the virtues of empathy, responsibility, and action must guide our nation toward a brighter future.
If there is anything that Booker repeatedly returns to in United, it is that the myopia of contemporary politics leads citizens astray, and leaves them vulnerable to ignoring issues of tangible importance ... what sets Senator Booker’s work apart from that of similar political books is that it seeks to elevate discourse rather than bring down opponents of the opposite partisan persuasion. This is a refreshing take, one that is truly worthy of study and contemplation. It makes us better citizens.
Booker in particular as a book presented all the face-down literary comfort potential of a bed of punji stakes ... it’s good. It’s an exceedingly good book, and an important book, and a reminder of what makes Booker an important and, through it all, a promising public figure ... he gives us not simply the standard slingshot of self-love that usually characterizes these kinds of political books. He actually populates the book with real people and big-picture relevant plot lines ... All the portraits create a vital story line – and an activist’s political narrative ... Based on Booker’s selfie-snapping spree and reluctance to ever step away from predictable sound bites, we feared a book that indulges in all the same stretched safety nets of establishment flatness. But what makes the book fine ultimately is its gritty reliance on local people and encounters to demonstrate a story for the country right now.
... highly readable and engaging ... Whether readers agree or disagree with the senator’s politics, his titular appeal for Americans to recognize their history of interdependence and to work to improve the lives of others is hard to dispute ... Booker’s book will likely interest and inspire not only his constituents but also a range of U.S. readers, especially those concerned with the criminal justice system and the current state of partisan politics.