THE BLACK BOX Writing the Race

What makes Dominic Hoffman such a fine narrator is the clarity of his delivery and his vocal agility. He sounds like he is inside Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s, brilliant mind, and he moves adroitly from the author’s knowing perspective to “signifying” in the style of African American folklore. His voice is conversational and his tone thoughtful as he takes the listener from the works of eighteenth-century poet Phyllis Wheatley to the abolitionist polemics of Frederick Douglass and sociological perspectives of W.E.B. Du Bois. Through this work, subtitled “Writing the Race,” historian, filmmaker, and PBS host Gates gives the listener a distinct frame through which to view African American history. This fine audiobook adds to the Harvard historian’s exceptional body of work. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2024]