The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood

Ta-Nehisi Coates' debut is an infectious, reflective memoir-a lyrical saga of surviving the crack-stricken streets of Baltimore in the '80s. Son of Vietnam vet and black awareness advocate Paul Coates-a poor man who set out to publish lost classics of black history-Ta- Nehisi drifts toward salvation at Howard University, while his ominous brother Big Bill finds his own rhythm hustling.