Somehow, I hadn’t heard of Ms. Ajayi until a couple of months ago. Clearly, I have been missing out. Thankfully I learned of her via this great collection of essays. When, after seeing the entertaining cover, someone asked what I was reading, I described it as a little bit silly but a lot serious. Some of the topic areas might be considered lighter fare, which is what I was expecting for the whole of the book (again, my fault, as I wasn’t familiar with the […]
How do we reconcile the imperfections of feminism with all the good it can do?
If I could have Roxane Gay follow me around for the rest of my life contextualizing my experiences as processed through her personal brain filter, I would have no more wishes for my genie, even if he insisted that I had two wishes left. I would tell him to fuck off, I’m all set: I’ve got Roxane Gay. I’m going to re-read this one. Probably twice or thrice. She is my new best friend. She is the smartest person I know (I don’t know her). […]
It Sucks She Has To Explain This, But She Does It So Well
I was lucky enough to learn about Phoebe Robinson when a friend recommended I listen to 2 Dope Queens, the comedy podcast she hosts with Jessica Williams (of The Daily Show fame). She is a stand-up comedian and writer, and You Can’t Touch My Hair is her first book. It’s a collection of essays that take on topics as varied as black hair, guilty pleasures, and advice for her niece. I write in my books, and I found myself underlining a lot in this one. I […]
You make the art that only you can make. You tell the stories only you can tell.
Neil Gaiman just gets it, man. This collection of miscellaneous non-fiction writings consists of various speeches, articles, essays, and introductions, and what it turns out to be is sort of a hodge-podge portrait of Gaiman as a writer and reader. Not every essay was of interest to me, and I did skip some of them that covered books I’d never read (and didn’t want spoiled . . . also, the one about Dogsbody Neil tells the reader to skip straight up and then come back […]