Reviews

How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon

huuugee's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

cocoaqueenk's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Kiese Laymon is one of my Top Five favorite authors, speakers, thinkers. I don't know how anyone can read his words or listen to him speak and not feel inspired to remember, consider, create.

gabeabaud's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

need_to_read's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

biblobimbo's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

mirmmaid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

obethyb's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

lottie1803's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense fast-paced

3.75

storytimed's review against another edition

3.75

This is a collection of essays and short stories! Like the Neil Gaiman collection, it suffers for being just like, a lot of one author
But fortunately Kiese is less annoying than Neil Gaiman, I think especially because he lets other voices share the spotlight. We get emails written between him and his mother, a letter chain from other Black male writers (including one trans Black guy and one gay Black guy), and the whole anthology ends with a sermon from his aunt
Who, I have to say, is kind of... a better writer than Kiese............ lmfao
Like Kiese isn't bad, but I'm not vibing with a lot of his tics? There's a lot of repetition when he's making grand pronouncements about Race In American Society, but without the clarity of voice and rhythm of the preachers he's influenced by. He tends to be dour and that doesn't really work with polemics
I think he's at his best when he's doing incisive and slightly mean captures of people he knows in real life. There's an interview he does with a guy who plays basketball overseas that he published for ESPN
And that's really interesting because he actually connects with the player, who is a personal friend from youth, and is very honest about his own judgmental attitude towards the whole situation
Similarly, the essay he writes about his publishing industry nightmare and a hated former agent is very gossipy and enjoyable

alicia_loves_books's review against another edition

Reading essays about such personal topics is always so interesting to me. Especially when our lives are so different from each others. I appreciate the author’s vulnerability and this has given me so much to think about.