#NonFicNov 2021 Hanif Abdurraqib (essays)

- Author: Hanif Abdurraqib
- Title: A Little Devil In America
- Published: 2021
- Genre: essays (history & criticism)
- Monthly plan
- #NonFicNov 2021
- #ReadDiversely
- Trivia: Finalist for Andrew Carnegie Medal of Excellence non-fiction
- winner announcement 23 January 2022 5pm EST
- Trivia: Finalist for National Book Award 2021 non-fiction
- winner announcement 17 November 2021
- @DoingDewey
- #NonficNov hosts:
- Rennie @ What’s Nonfiction
- Veronica @ The Thousand Book Project
- Christopher @ Plucked From the Stacks
- Jaymi @ The OC Book Girl
Conclusion:
- There are only a few books that left me literally speechless
- They are often about exposing injustice Blood in the Water
- …poetry books for example by Jericho Brown, Les Murray, Clive James
- (Australia), Cilla McQueen (New Zealand)
- ….now I can add these essays by Hanif Abdurraqib to my special list.
- His criticism and essays are infused with social commentary,
- memoir, pop culture, and always with poetry.
- Even the structure of his books sometimes takes a poetic slant.
- Like the chapter in this book called “Fear: A Crown,”
- where the last line of each stanza echoes the first line of the next.
- It is an a lyrical celebration of Black artists, from
- Merry Clayton, Aretha Franklin, M. Jackson to Dave Chappelle, and a
- critique of the ways Black expression gets exploited.
- Hanif Abdurraqib has written a profound and lasting essays.
- These subjects range from
- the often-tragic lives of legendary Black artists
- …to close examinator of a singular performance.
Best quote:
- “I’m afraid not of death, but of the unknown that comes after.
- I’m afraid not of leaving….but of being forgotten.”
- #MustRead…it will leave you speechless.
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Oh, this looks brilliant and definitely one to watch out for here.
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Abdurraqib…rarely smiles in photos but he has so much to say…straight from the heart!
I was totally blown away by his words. Don’t miss this one!
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I just picked this up from the library and I can’t wait to read it. Abdurraqub’s earlier book, Go Ahead in the Rain, was so beautiful, I shared your feeling of being left speechless by one of his books.
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I’m reading Abdurraqib’s poetry collection The Crown Ain’t Worth Much…one poem a night…and my goodness, this man has a way with words!
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