For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, features Hanif Abdurraqib’s considerable talents as a poet, essayist and thoughtful social commentator. Reading this book reminded me of listening to the late-night DJs of my youth—I especially remember Alison Steele, the Nightbird—who used songs as the starting point to improvise a jazz … Read more
[ad_1] In The Comeback, I explore the impact of early stardom and abuse on a young Hollywood actress, Grace Turner. There are multiple power dynamics explored in the book, including the connection between Grace and her audience, who think they own part of her; the dysfunctional relationship Grace has with her parents, who feel both … Read more
[ad_1] Kink, edited by R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell, is a titillating collection of stories about sex, fetish, love, and loneliness from a diverse group of literary authors. Although the collection includes detailed descriptions of sex acts, Kink is primarily an exploration of intimacy, power, and our human need to share an emotional bond. Communication is a … Read more
[ad_1] Georges Seurat’s painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte is a marquee visitor attraction at the Art Institute of Chicago. This painting of mid-19th century Parisians picnicking on the banks of the Seine is large, but the figures within it are made up of millions of tiny colored dots. To view the painting, visitors … Read more
[ad_1] Sankofa is the adopted daughter of Death. With a glowing green light that comes from within her, she can take the lives of those around her. Nnedi Okorafor’s newest novella, Remote Control, introduces Sankofa through the stories many people tell about her—she is Death’s own remote control, they say. When she touches technology, it … Read more
[ad_1] In her debut novel, The Opium Prince, Jasmine Aimaq centers a frequently overlooked aspect of tumult in Afghanistan: if opium were not in demand, possessing it wouldn’t translate into power. A hierarchy – a royalty of sorts – exists around the creation and distribution of opiates in the East, in no small part because … Read more
[ad_1] Adrienne Rich continues to be widely taught in classrooms and read for her unparalleled ability to master language, syntax, and substance. Through her writing, the iconic feminist poet and essayist explored questions of identity, privilege, and the complex ways in which oppressions intertwine that still resonate today. Author Hilary Holladay has crafted the first … Read more
[ad_1] “It is poetry that holds the songs of becoming, of change, of dreaming, and it is poetry we turn to when we travel those places of transformation, like birth, coming of age, marriage, accomplishments, and death. We sing our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren: our human experience in time, into and through existence.” So begins the … Read more
[ad_1] Kirabo presses against the boundaries of tradition in her small village of Nattetta, Uganda. She does not outright reject her people’s customs, but her desire to learn where she comes from—specifically, the history of her mother—drives her to seek help along the edge of what tradition allows to find her own way into womanhood. … Read more