venneh 's review for:

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe

4.0

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So, I was already fascinated by the “emotion video” that Janelle Monae released alongside their Dirty Computer album - visuals that would put Jodorosky to shame, sci fi dystopia, Afrofuturism, not even remotely subtle queer imagery, all hella up my alley. And now, to see a collection of short stories that focuses on the world of the album and pairs with some amazing queer/bipoc collaborators while they’re at it is just a hell of a treat. I’d be interested to hear more about how this collaboration came about, since it’s been about four years since the original album, and if it had been closer I would’ve assumed it was a marketing push for tie in material, but this feels more like Monae and their collaborators fleshing out a world that inspired all of them. My favorites from this are the title story from Alaya Dawn Johnson of a black woman that’s risen high in the ranks of the dystopia and her own secrets, Danny Lore’s story about a queer commune on the fringes of society and the politics of what it means to be “pure” enough, and Eve Ewing’s story about a lesbian couple that discovers that the pantry in their apartment exists outside of time, and their disintegrating relationship, though all of the stories in here are good. The album’s world can sometimes feel like set dressing and incidental to the actual stories, but I also like the idea of Monae giving the setting to play around in, and letting them go wild from there. (Though, cynically, I’m sure someone would say that the collaborators just worked stories they couldn’t sell otherwise into the setting.) my only real criticism is that the digital copy I picked up didn’t really do a great job of displaying the collaborators except in the table of contents navigation menu, which you had to click to bring up. Either way, if you’re looking for a neat read, and liked the album and the movie that came with it, pick this up.