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madhav_makes's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, I am in awe at the end of reading this book. I have felt a plethora of emotions- rage, sadness, joy, vindication, curiosity, grief, and many more- sometimes page to page. I am emotionally spent and charged, and I am the better for it.
This book has the love Hanif Abdurraqib put into it and it shows. He effortlessly weaves together so many different narratives and emotions that are seemingly unrelated at first but are just waiting for you to realize the connection. I often had to stop and re-read sentence or passages just to let the full weight of the words I was reading hit me- sometimes to understand, and other times to feel the emotions they brought me again and again.
There is poetry and prose and triumph and heartache and joy and grief all recorded in these pages. The book is very much in praise of black performance yes, but it is also a celebration of black culture and identify in a world that seeks to diminish it overtly or covertly. I need to sit with this book and my thoughts and feelings on it for a while, but I will most definitely read it again in the future- both to experience those thoughts and feelings again, and find the things I’ve surely missed.
This book has the love Hanif Abdurraqib put into it and it shows. He effortlessly weaves together so many different narratives and emotions that are seemingly unrelated at first but are just waiting for you to realize the connection. I often had to stop and re-read sentence or passages just to let the full weight of the words I was reading hit me- sometimes to understand, and other times to feel the emotions they brought me again and again.
There is poetry and prose and triumph and heartache and joy and grief all recorded in these pages. The book is very much in praise of black performance yes, but it is also a celebration of black culture and identify in a world that seeks to diminish it overtly or covertly. I need to sit with this book and my thoughts and feelings on it for a while, but I will most definitely read it again in the future- both to experience those thoughts and feelings again, and find the things I’ve surely missed.
damara_reads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
amydunnewasright's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
jetlamar's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Racial slurs, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Self harm, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Buy two. One to read. One to collect. It will be heavier than you realize, but prepare yourself to enjoy it more than you expect, but read it a chapter at a time so its layerd truths can settle in. Share the one when you're finished with it, but shelve the other. This book is a literary necessity.