After reading '' Between the World and Me '' , novelist Toni Morrison wrote that Coates fills " the intellectual void " left by James Baldwin 's death 28 years prior . A. O. Scott of '' The New York Times '' said the book is " essential , like water or air . " David Remnick of '' The New Yorker '' described it as " extraordinary . " Michiko Kakutani of '' The New York Times '' wrote that '' Between the World and Me '' functioned as a sequel to Coates 's 2008 memoir , which displayed Coates 's talents as an emotional and lyrical writer . Coates 's use of " the Dream " ( in reference to paradisal suburban life ) confused her , and she thought Coates stretched beyond what is safely generalizable . In particular , she felt that the phrasing of his comments on 9/11 could be easily misread . Kakutani thought that Coates did not consistently acknowledge racial progress achieved over the course of centuries and that some parts read like the author 's internal debate . Benjamin Wallace-Wells of '' New York '' said that a sense of fear for one 's children propels the book , and Coates 's atheism gives the book a sense of urgency
9/11
September 11 attacks
Between the World and Me