All We Say
At your speed≈ 8½ hrs
Pages433
Audiobook≈ 14½ hrs
433 pages works out to roughly 130,000 words. At an average 250 words a minute that is 8½ hrs — about a week of evenings.
How long does it take to read All We Say?
All We Say is 433 pages, or roughly 130,000 words. How long that takes depends on how fast you read:
| Your pace | Words per minute | Time to finish |
|---|---|---|
| Slow | 175 | 12½ hrs |
| Average | 250 | 8½ hrs |
| Fast | 400 | 5½ hrs |
Estimated at about 300 words per page. Most adults read between 200 and 300 words a minute — use the reading-speed control to set your own pace and every time on the site adjusts.
Every reading time on the site updates to your pace. Page counts are an estimate, so treat the hours as a good guide, not a stopwatch.
Common questions
- How long does it take to read All We Say?
- About 8½ hrs at an average reading speed of 250 words per minute. All We Say runs 433 pages, roughly 130,000 words — so at a slower 175 wpm it is nearer 12½ hrs, and at 400 wpm closer to 5½ hrs.
- How many pages is All We Say?
- 433 pages, which is about 130,000 words and 8½ hrs of reading. Editions vary, so we take the figure two of our three sources agree on.
- Is All We Say worth reading?
- What we can tell you for certain is the cost: 433 pages and about 8½ hrs of your time, or 5½ hrs if you read quickly. Whether that is worth it depends on the hours you have.
- How long is the All We Say audiobook?
- About 14½ hrs, estimated from the 130,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.
From the publisher
What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? This sweeping history of the United States told through fifteen speeches relives the battle over American identity, from a New York Times bestselling author and one of President Barack Obama’s former speechwriters.…
“At a time of moral and political drift, Ben Rhodes reminds us what American greatness actually sounds like, and what it means.”—Ayad Akhtar, author of Homeland Elegies For 250 years, we have debated what it means to be American. This question shaped the compromises in our Constitution and the arguments we’ve been having ever since—spawning abolitionism, secession, and civil war; populism, mass migration, and global leadership; movements for reform and the backlashes to them. In All We Say, Ben Rhodes tells the story of fifteen speeches—some iconic, others long forgotten—which have both shaped and reflected the argument Americans have been having from our founding to the intense divisions of our time. Through riveting and beautifully rendered accounts of the people, movements, and moments that produced these speeches, Rhodes traces the history of our battle over identity. The result is a singular and revealing portrait of America itself: a nation divided between two stories—one of inheritance, power, and exclusion, the other of equality, striving, and belonging. Drawing on a decade writing for Barack Obama, Rhodes also shows us how words can redirect a nation, what makes a speech enduring, and why oratory is a unique form of persuasion in American democracy. From Benjamin Franklin’s call for compromise at the Constitutional Convention, to Alexander Stephens’ case for white supremacy as the cornerstone of the Confederacy; from Martin Luther King’s dream of true equality to Donald Trump’s rallying cry against democracy itself, these speeches remind us that history is a living argument. At a time when American identity—and truth—is contested, All We Say offers a fresh and powerful look at who we really are and who we could still become.