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emily_mad's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.25
sabsey's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
4.5 stars.
This was longggg with a lotttt of essays - more than I expected. Deeply existential and grief-laden in the first half, with more interrogation around America and the multitude of the author's identities (and what they mean in modern America) in the second half, with music as the great centrepiece through them all.
I came to this collection because of the author's writings in another essay compilation I read earlier this year (Critical Hits), and because someone once told me that in this set was an essay about Fall Out Boy - and it was the best essay they'd ever read. Glad I saw it through and actually picked this up. Adburraqib has a beautiful poetic voice bleeding through this, and now I'm excited to get my hands on some of his poetry some time in the future.
Standouts were:
A Night in Bruce Springsteen's America
ScHoolboy Q Wants White People to Say the Word
Under Half-Lit Fluorescents: The Wonder Years and the Great Suburban Narrative
Brief Notes on Staying // No One Is Making Their Best Work When They Want To Die
Years of the Black Parade
Fall Out Boy Forever
Ric Flair, Best Rapper Alive
There Is the Picture of Michael Jackson Kissing Whitney Houston on the Cheek
Rumours and the Currency of Heartbreak
In the Summer of 1997, Everyone Took to the Streets in Shiny Suits
Nina Simone Was Very Black
Blood Summer, In Three Parts
Fear in Two Winters
On Paris
My First Police Stop
Serena Williams and the Policing of Imagined Arrogance
They Will Speak Loudest of You After You've Gone
Johnny Cash Never Shot A Man in Reno. Or, The Migos: Nice Kids from the Suburbs
The White Rapper Joke
This was longggg with a lotttt of essays - more than I expected. Deeply existential and grief-laden in the first half, with more interrogation around America and the multitude of the author's identities (and what they mean in modern America) in the second half, with music as the great centrepiece through them all.
I came to this collection because of the author's writings in another essay compilation I read earlier this year (Critical Hits), and because someone once told me that in this set was an essay about Fall Out Boy - and it was the best essay they'd ever read. Glad I saw it through and actually picked this up. Adburraqib has a beautiful poetic voice bleeding through this, and now I'm excited to get my hands on some of his poetry some time in the future.
Standouts were:
A Night in Bruce Springsteen's America
ScHoolboy Q Wants White People to Say the Word
Under Half-Lit Fluorescents: The Wonder Years and the Great Suburban Narrative
Brief Notes on Staying // No One Is Making Their Best Work When They Want To Die
Years of the Black Parade
Fall Out Boy Forever
Ric Flair, Best Rapper Alive
There Is the Picture of Michael Jackson Kissing Whitney Houston on the Cheek
Rumours and the Currency of Heartbreak
In the Summer of 1997, Everyone Took to the Streets in Shiny Suits
Nina Simone Was Very Black
Blood Summer, In Three Parts
Fear in Two Winters
On Paris
My First Police Stop
Serena Williams and the Policing of Imagined Arrogance
They Will Speak Loudest of You After You've Gone
Johnny Cash Never Shot A Man in Reno. Or, The Migos: Nice Kids from the Suburbs
The White Rapper Joke
hannah_gallagher's review against another edition
5.0
thank you internet for sending jackie 2 copies of this <3
vezreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
Really powerful collection
cashleykate's review against another edition
3.5
I really enjoyed this book but theres definitely parts where I was zoning out a little. I think this would resonate with people who really like musical artists. I feel I took in a lot about the artists that the author covered, and the feelings he shares are honestly so raw it makes the reader feel too.
notghosts's review against another edition
4.25
a shared love for the wonder years brought me to this book, but i enjoyed almost every essay. today i think its the essay on being young and muslim that i will remember best.