A review by menomica
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

emotional funny informative inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Remember you have the right to be proud. Remember you have the right to be you.

Oh god. Wow. Wow.
This book is so beautiful and powerful. I think this is a very great source of Black Queer literature. I loved walking with Micheal from childhood to his college years. Watching him grow into himself, making and loosing friends. 

I loved that this book didn’t focus on love. There was love definitely, between friends and family, but Micheal never had a main love interest, but guys that he was really into, which is, exactly the experience of being a teenager/young adult. This book just focused on Micheal and how he felt. And it did so with beautiful prose. I don’t usually care too much about poetry, but this book was very great in both it’s formatting and it’s use of language. Very amazing.

I also learned a lot about drag through this. No so much the technical aspect but the emotional artist’s statement. I loved learning about how personal drag performance is, and getting to the heart it being a form of self expression and playing with gender. 
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