Social Sciences
![Mychal Denzel Smith - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B077RCCMF1.jpg)
Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream
Winner of the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction
Brave, clear-eyed, and passionate, Stakes Is High is the book we need to guide us past crisis mode and through an uncertain future.
The events of the past decade have forced us to reckon with who we are and who we want to be. We have been invested in a set of beliefs about our American identity: our exceptionalism, the inevitable rightness of our path, the promise that hard work and determination will carry us to freedom. But in Stakes Is High, Mychal Denzel Smith confronts the shortcomings of these stories -- and with the American Dream itself -- and calls on us to live up to the principles we profess but fail to realize. In a series of incisive essays, Smith exposes the stark contradictions at the heart of American life, holding all of us, individually and as a nation, to account. We've gotten used to looking away, but the fissures and casual violence of institutional oppression are ever-present. There is a future that is not as grim as our past. In this profound work, Smith helps us envision it with care, honesty, and imagination.
Brave, clear-eyed, and passionate, Stakes Is High is the book we need to guide us past crisis mode and through an uncertain future.
The events of the past decade have forced us to reckon with who we are and who we want to be. We have been invested in a set of beliefs about our American identity: our exceptionalism, the inevitable rightness of our path, the promise that hard work and determination will carry us to freedom. But in Stakes Is High, Mychal Denzel Smith confronts the shortcomings of these stories -- and with the American Dream itself -- and calls on us to live up to the principles we profess but fail to realize. In a series of incisive essays, Smith exposes the stark contradictions at the heart of American life, holding all of us, individually and as a nation, to account. We've gotten used to looking away, but the fissures and casual violence of institutional oppression are ever-present. There is a future that is not as grim as our past. In this profound work, Smith helps us envision it with care, honesty, and imagination.
Editorial Reviews
"Slim, impactful....Stakes Is High is a polemic in the best sense of the word, holding up a mirror to America in the hope that a clear-eyed glimpse of its failings will assist in the never-ending struggle to bring about the righteous nation it has always aspired to be."―Booklist, starred
"[Smith] is sharply self-aware, and he would seem to expect his reader to approach his fine-honed argument with the same seriousness. Doing so is well worth the effort. An urgent and provocative work that deserves the broadest possible audience."
―Kirkus Reviews, starred
"A clear-eyed and down-to-earth analysis of the broken foundation of the American Dream and how our culture can move past it....As the book's title and its author suggest: the stakes are high."
―TheGrio
"Smith's galvanizing rhetoric implores a commitment to honesty.... This passionate book is a plea for the U.S. to recognize the delusions casting it as an equal, just country and to see revolution as necessary."―Shelf Awareness
"[Stakes Is High] is beautiful, grim, yet hopeful of a future in which we choose to act collectively and work together to create a new narrative of America."―Electric Literature
"With searing vision and unwavering clarity, Mychal Denzel Smith dismantles our most enduring myths and dangerous national illusions. His argument is personal, intimate. It calls on us, line by line, to do the hard work of truthful living: to hold past and present, love and criticism, up in equal measure. Stakes Is High will undoubtedly prove to be one of the most important works of the decade; as social critique, as personal essay, as a master class in language. Keep it within arm's length; you'll be reaching for it long after you've read the last line."―Téa Obreht, author of Inland
"Stakes Is High is Mychal Denzel Smith's gift to us. With compassion and intelligence, he shows us what justice is meant to be in America."―Common
"Mychal Denzel Smith has written an emotional break-up letter with hope. In his meditations on the pillars of American life, Smith challenges us to accept our complicity in the systems that link our fortunes to our oppressions. It is elegantly written and lovingly argued."―Tressie McMillan Cottom, author of Thick: And Other Essays
"I want this book in the hands of everyone it would affect, which is to say, those with power and those lacking power; those of every race and ethnicity who are affected by the United States government; those who have hope, those who do not, and those who are somewhere in between. Smith writes with urgency and brilliance, honing prose to a fine glimmer as he demonstrates, again and again, life after...
"[Smith] is sharply self-aware, and he would seem to expect his reader to approach his fine-honed argument with the same seriousness. Doing so is well worth the effort. An urgent and provocative work that deserves the broadest possible audience."
―Kirkus Reviews, starred
"A clear-eyed and down-to-earth analysis of the broken foundation of the American Dream and how our culture can move past it....As the book's title and its author suggest: the stakes are high."
―TheGrio
"Smith's galvanizing rhetoric implores a commitment to honesty.... This passionate book is a plea for the U.S. to recognize the delusions casting it as an equal, just country and to see revolution as necessary."―Shelf Awareness
"[Stakes Is High] is beautiful, grim, yet hopeful of a future in which we choose to act collectively and work together to create a new narrative of America."―Electric Literature
"With searing vision and unwavering clarity, Mychal Denzel Smith dismantles our most enduring myths and dangerous national illusions. His argument is personal, intimate. It calls on us, line by line, to do the hard work of truthful living: to hold past and present, love and criticism, up in equal measure. Stakes Is High will undoubtedly prove to be one of the most important works of the decade; as social critique, as personal essay, as a master class in language. Keep it within arm's length; you'll be reaching for it long after you've read the last line."―Téa Obreht, author of Inland
"Stakes Is High is Mychal Denzel Smith's gift to us. With compassion and intelligence, he shows us what justice is meant to be in America."―Common
"Mychal Denzel Smith has written an emotional break-up letter with hope. In his meditations on the pillars of American life, Smith challenges us to accept our complicity in the systems that link our fortunes to our oppressions. It is elegantly written and lovingly argued."―Tressie McMillan Cottom, author of Thick: And Other Essays
"I want this book in the hands of everyone it would affect, which is to say, those with power and those lacking power; those of every race and ethnicity who are affected by the United States government; those who have hope, those who do not, and those who are somewhere in between. Smith writes with urgency and brilliance, honing prose to a fine glimmer as he demonstrates, again and again, life after...
Readers Top Reviews
Raelyn Torngren
“Contrary to what personal finance charlatans would have us believe, poverty is not a mindset—it is the inevitable and necessary by-product of a system wherein life is only guaranteed to those who have wealth and wealth is distributed via ownership and not labor. Poverty is a capitalists’s main resource, as it ensures there will always be a class of people to exploit.” Special thanks to Bold Type Books for the gifted finished copy of this marvelous book. STAKES IS HIGH is out today, and I believe it’s one that we’re gonna be referencing for a long time to come. Mychal Denzel Smith divides his book into four parts—Delusions, Justice, Accountability, and Freedom—each of which breaks down the American Dream into its unsatisfactory and contradictory components. Through these sections Smith sets out to argue that this moment in American history is, “not an aberration, that it is the course this country has always been on because the power of the narrative we have all contributed to has propelled us here.” It’s perhaps the most compelling, important argument I’ve ever read. “Delusions” tackles the idea that cultural touchstones arise independent of any ideology or agenda. Smith notes that even highways are political when you stop to question whose homes were destroyed to make way for them. “Justice” provides an erudite argument for why we must abolish the police in order to attain peace. His definition of justice is particularly insightful: “justice is a proactive commitment to providing each person with the material and social conditions in which they can both survive and thrive as a healthy and self-actualized human being.” Police can do two things, arrest or kill, and neither of those is going to deliver justice. In “Accountability,” through the example of the crime of rape, Smith explains the difference between apology and accountability, and why the latter is not being held up as the standard in our society. For that to be the case would require a vastly different system of adjudication. Smith builds on Angela Davis’s argument that “prisons are obsolete” and provides an honest examination of our own shortcomings. In “Freedom,” Smith traces his family history back to slavery and uses this framework to analyze the contradictions and impossibilities of America’s ‘individualistic freedoms.’ Freedom should not require luck, and so none of us are free. Smith notes that writing this book did not cure his Trump-era depression, and reading it sure didn’t cure mine. But, I found a kindred spirit in Smith’s words which at least made me feel less alone in my despair at the world, maybe even optimistic. He doesn’t profess to have all of the answers, but to suggest that the most important thing we can do in this moment is to come together as a community. “We must choose us,” he writes. Reading this collection re...
Anonymous
"Stakes is High" falls into the category of books that everyone should read. As a self-identifying liberal, this book puts into perspective how even if Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election, while it would have been better than the current presidency, the reality is that the inequality that has existed in this country since its founding will continue without a complete overhaul of our systems. I appreciation Smith's discussion on how, as liberals, especially white liberals, we can't put blame on the groups of people who voted for Trump unless we look at our long history that has allowed white supremacy, misogyny, transphobia/homophobia, discrimination against immigrants, and economic privilege by only certain groups of people to perpetuate. Many of the ideals that Americans profess that make us a united country, like the ability to live the American Dream, are a myth to those who work low wage jobs, graduate from schools without receiving a solid education, or face other daily (and lifelong) injustices. Overall, this book will raise awareness about the true history and current state of America, as well as lead you to think about how you can contribute to making this a better country for everyone.
laquetteham
This was a page turner for me. It was well written and explained the myth of the American Dream. This book was written with honesty and compassion. I am looking forward to reading his future works.
Mimmzy
This young man has a talent for hitting home on some of the important issues our country struggles with today. Race and poverty are looked at through a clever and thought-provoking lens, and I found myself having to ask some uncomfortable but necessary questions about my own biases. I learned that I have a lot to learn. I highly recommend this book.
