Just Us is a thought-provoking collection of poetry and essays on the topic of white privilege. There are not all that many texts that take on the topic of racism from this perspective, but it's an important angle to address.

Rankine's personal spin on the topic is both her strength and her weakness. Her anecdotes act as anchors, making the theoretical tangible and immediate. She has a wonderful talent for explaining the ubiquitous in a way that's so clear and concise, it's like you're seeing it for the first time. But I did get a little tired about hearing about 'a friend'. I appreciate the anonymity may be a necessity, but it does distance you from some deeply personal experiences, and I don't remember feeling quite the same disconnect from Rankine's previous collections.

Just Us is an essential and eye-opening read, and a timely book for 2020.

Claudia Rankine's book is less lyrical poetry than I expected and more essays combined with memoir. I loved it. Covering diverse topics associated with the nature of white supremacy in our society, it is littered with regular fact checking on itself, with associated sources. I also enjoyed the photographs used sporadically throughout. All in all, this was a genuinely powerful, thought provoking book. Recommended for everyone to continue with their education of the world around them.

Just Us should be a mandatory addition to any anti-racist reading list (as, I'd argue, should most of Rankine's work--I was a fan before this, so was thrilled to be able to read this early copy...) Told through poetry, vignettes from Rankine's lived experience, and carefully chosen academic research (deftly woven in so as not to weigh down the narrative) this is a unique book that is both an "easy" read thanks to its conversational tone, and yet at the same time a difficult one--asking her readers to confront their own privilege, head-on. There were long sections I found myself highlighting, knowing I'll return to them, again and again for their insight and brilliance--the whole book is subtle, challenging, and instructive. Highly, highly recommended.

I didn't enjoy this as much as Rankine previous two books but i still liked it. The writing and the subject was really interesting and Rankine has an elegengence and power to her writing. There were a couple of sections that did not work entirely for me and this is purely a personal preference and not anything objectively wrong with the book.

Taking the study of whiteness and white supremacy as a guiding light, Claudia Rankine explores a series of real encounters with friends and strangers...and urges us to enter into the conversations which could offer the only humane pathways through this moment of division.
‘An American Conversation’ is an apt name for this book. Rankine in Just Us writes likes she is in conversation with you the reader - the personal is political and this conversation is certainly both. In this book the author touches on marriage, children and friendship, particularly with white friends, and by making this book feel like a conversation you are part of it feels like the author is sharing something with you and keeps you absorbed throughout. With each conversation the author backs her conversation up with the sources giving more context with each chapter.

Though I do feel you need some background reading with this (Audre Lorde, Crenshaw, and maybe bell hooks?) to give you more of an understanding of the background, the writer throughout this book is insightful, thoughtful and honest and it stays with you. What stuck with me was a quote from the near the beginning of the book ‘’I wanted to say, “It’s not my point, it’s our reality,” but the declarative nature of the sentence felt sharp on my tongue’’ it’s these moments that make this book has so much integrity and you see the craft in the writing.

A book that I feel every white person should read, Just Us lets you in on a small part of what it feels like to live in America and be black, you read what the author is looking for and feeling when she goes into a school and notices the teaching isn’t diverse for example, seeing the differences in everyday life, you can understand to an extent what it is like to be wary of every facet of your life and how people cope with that, without the privilege of whiteness.

Highly recommend this, one of the best non fiction books I’ve ever read.

This is the first book I've read from Claudia Rankine so I didn't really know what to expect.
This book is a collection of essays, poetry and images and facts. There are studies and fact checks to back up what she is saying and I looked further into a few of the studies because they were just so interesting.

This book is powerful, insightful and makes you sit back and think. It might make you uncomfortable to read in some parts, but that's what I loved about it. It made me think about how racism is deeply rooted in many things and although this book is mainly talking about America, it's relevant no matter where you are from.

The way this book is written is more like a conversation between two people rather than a book, I really enjoyed the writing style and the whole feel to the book.

This is one I will definitely be recommending to others.

"What I know is that an inchoate desire for a future other than the one that seems to be forming our days brings me to a seat around any table, to lean forward, to hear, to respond, to await response from any other."

This is loose and unstructured in form and almost feels like Rankine is just chatting with the reader (well, except for the inserted data, academic footnotes and references that support her conversation) - and one of the things I like about it is that it's not prescriptive; it doesn't have all the answers; it's more questioning and uncertain and troubled than we might expect from a Yale professor, but it's precisely this nuanced intelligence and sense of doubt which gives it its strength.

One to definitely add to your anti-racism bookshelf.

I really love claudia rankine and was so excited to be able to read this. I have read quite a few of rankine’s poetry books, so i am familiar with her form and style of poetry. Whilst this was still very much similar, it was also so different and refreshing at the same time. Reading her words in prose gives more depth to her storytelling. The format of the e-galley made the format somewhat difficult to read so i feel like when i read the hardback when its out, it will be even more impactful

Just Us, subtitled An American Conversation, is a collection of poetry, essays, and images that investigate whiteness, white supremacy, and dialogue. This is done through having the main text on one side of the page, and having additional notes and images on the other, forming a dialogue between the two sides as Rankine adds statistics, fact checks her and others' statements, and includes images to illustrate points. From conversations with strangers or at dinner parties to questions around why women dye their hair blonde, the book moves between different topics to look at how whiteness is enacted in spaces and how uncomfortable conversations need to happen around it.

The format is particularly effective in getting across the multiplicity of the work, using quotations, direct speech, and the responses of people who were written about in a particular section and then read what Rankine had put about them to get across the conversation occurring, but also the dual page bringing Rankine's text into dialogue with itself. A lot of the sections don't feature answers, but raise questions, or allow Rankine to reflect on situations and reactions. I hadn't read the blurb well enough so expected more poetry, but it is more of a poetic essay collection that looks for different ways to interrogate whiteness, and extends an invitation to join the conversation.