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scinaps's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
marissasurber's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.5
booksaremypeople's review
5.0
Kiese Laymon, I believe, is one of the most important living American writers. This collection of thirteen essays is revised from his original collection in 2013 and includes six new and timely essays. Laymon candidly discusses the frustrating process of having to buy back the rights to his essay collection from the original publisher. Born and raised in Mississippi, Laymon writes about his connection to the state as well as his experiences living as a Black man in academia in the South. He looks at football, hop-hop, family relationships, and personal experiences through the lens of race, class, politics and Covid in America. His intelligence, humor and honesty shine through each essay. How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America should be required reading in this country and having only read Heavy, I am eager to read everything Laymon has ever written and I eagerly await his next publication. Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the advanced review copy of the book.
ballen790's review against another edition
4.0
I truly enjoy Kiese Laymon’s writing style. A fan after reading the masterpiece that is Heavy, I finally got around to reading this collection of essays. His writing sounds like beautiful story telling or sitting beside a good friend on a couch and just listening.
The letter to uncle Jimmy broke my heart, along with the letters shared amongst a group of friends. His flashbacks and recalling tragic instances of policing gone all the way wrong makes me want to do more in the world. I will admit the in-depth southern hip hop essay was dragging for me at first but as I continued I started to see the relevance more and more. The concept of protecting black women or the lack there of, how good MBDTF is and Kanye’s state of affairs now, offering help to a cousin you looked up to but not begging them to visit... just so many interesting thoughts and perspectives shared in this short text.
The cultural and pop cultural references were also a nice addition. President Obama and Mitt Romney and that sh*t they don’t like had me cackling. Kurt and his white BeBe’s kids... just deep emotional storytelling with alll the range of emotions.
He nods to many black celebrities, comedians, performers, thinkers, and my personal favorite Frank Ocean.
This is a great read. Heartbreaking, hilarious and quick.
The letter to uncle Jimmy broke my heart, along with the letters shared amongst a group of friends. His flashbacks and recalling tragic instances of policing gone all the way wrong makes me want to do more in the world. I will admit the in-depth southern hip hop essay was dragging for me at first but as I continued I started to see the relevance more and more. The concept of protecting black women or the lack there of, how good MBDTF is and Kanye’s state of affairs now, offering help to a cousin you looked up to but not begging them to visit... just so many interesting thoughts and perspectives shared in this short text.
The cultural and pop cultural references were also a nice addition. President Obama and Mitt Romney and that sh*t they don’t like had me cackling. Kurt and his white BeBe’s kids... just deep emotional storytelling with alll the range of emotions.
He nods to many black celebrities, comedians, performers, thinkers, and my personal favorite Frank Ocean.
This is a great read. Heartbreaking, hilarious and quick.
alaiyo0685's review against another edition
5.0
This was a collection of essays that I couldn't read without having a pen nearby, because everything in me wanted to mark this book up. Kiese is inviting his readers into conversation with this work, and it's definitely a conversation I want others to join us in.
viewtoakel's review against another edition
5.0
I need to sort though a lot of emotion before I can even begin to unpack this intellectually. This should be required reading for every single person in America. Kiese is a gift to our culture that no one should overlook and I'm so grateful for every single hurt his words forced me to feel.
the_spines's review against another edition
4.0
Full review here: http://meganprokott.com/how-to-slowly-kill-yourself-and-others-in-america-kiese-laymon/
emsharples's review against another edition
4.0
Very well written and quite an interesting read. I haven't read Between the World and Me yet, but I have a feeling this is a good precursor to that.