Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib

5 reviews

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

Okay, I absolutely LOVE Hanif Abdurraqib, and I love They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us. I listened to the essay collection slowly, pausing to listen to all the different artists and albums and songs he touches on (Abdurraqib has many a wonderful Spotify playlist to help with this endeavor, including one called They Can't Kill Us. that is a companion to the collection.)

So the context easily gets a 5/5, full stars from me. Read the essays, read them again, read Abdurraqib's other work. Keen-eyed observers will notice, though, that I only gave this 4.75 stars. Why?

Well, I listened to the audiobook production of They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, and it is a super interesting listen... but it's not the same text as the text versions. Firstly, Abdurraqib adds in a lot of author's notes, editoralizing in a way that I can sympathize with because he came back to this text to read it for the audiobook a few years after publishing. Secondly, one essay is not conveyable verbally - it's an erasure essay, and Abdurraqib notes that he couldn't figure out a way to speak it without compromising the piece. I grabbed a physical copy of the book from my library to read that essay ("August 9, 2014"), and I agree with his assessment that it wouldn't be an easy one to read aloud.

The fact that the audio and written version of the book are different isn't a bad thing per se, but it is a complicated one. And so I don't consider my rating a mark against it as much of a signal/acknowledgment that I read a different version of the text than people with physical or digital copies.

All that said - my favorite essays from this collection were "Under Half-Lit Fluorescents: The Wonder Years And The Great Suburban Narrative," "Death Becomes You: My Chemical Romance And Ten Years Of The Black Parade," "Nina Simone Was Very Black," "Serena Williams And The Policing Of Imagined Arrogance," and "The White Rapper Joke."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Death, Police brutality, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Hate crime, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Cursing, and Suicide

Minor: Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Murder, Drug abuse, and Drug use

sydapel's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Truly some of the best writing about music and culture I've come across. I'd seen this recommended in various places across my feed, but it was Mel on TikTok that convinced me when they described it as writing that really captured what it's like to love or be a fan of music/sports/etc in our current social climate, how communities are shaped by the attitudes of their leaders and what it's like to be a minority in many of these spaces. Can't recommend it enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Drug abuse and Death

danimcthomas's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Classism, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Violence

blackberryjambaby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Homophobia, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Terminal illness, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Drug use, Child death, and Alcoholism

Minor: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Pedophilia

friendlypoet's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Suicide, Classism, Mental illness, Cultural appropriation, and Violence