Is On Courage Worth Reading?
by Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer
Ada’s Score
Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer profile individuals who confronted authoritarian power, expanding on their New Yorker essay. The book excels as portraiture, rendering its dissidents with reportorial care and moral seriousness. Its weakness is architectural: the profiles accumulate admiration more than a unifying framework for what courage under authoritarianism actually requires. The individual stories are stronger than the whole they form.
“The individual portraits are carefully reported and genuinely moving. Angwin's investigative instincts serve the subjects well when the book lets a single story breathe.”
Ada Brief
AI reading intelligence“The individual portraits are carefully reported and genuinely moving. Angwin's investigative instincts serve the subjects well when the book lets a single story breathe.”
Ada’s reservations
The profiles inspire but never cohere into an argument about what courage costs or demands. Anyone wanting a framework rather than a gallery will find the essay stretched thin across a book.
Ada’s score reflects both strengths and reservations.
Book Details
- Language
- English
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Ada’s Score
3.9
Ada’s editorial score — not an aggregate of reader reviews.
Common Questions About On Courage
- Is On Courage worth reading?
- The individual portraits are carefully reported and genuinely moving. Angwin's investigative instincts serve the subjects well when the book lets a single story breathe. Ada rates it 3.9 out of 5.
- What are the main weaknesses of On Courage?
- The profiles inspire but never cohere into an argument about what courage costs or demands. Anyone wanting a framework rather than a gallery will find the essay stretched thin across a book.
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