A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib 2021, 320 pgs.
A national book award finalist and a best book of 2021 by the Chicago Tribune, this was a bit of a departure for us in the Rhythm n' Books club in that everything here is personal essays about music or music-related icons--as opposed to what we've read so far, which have primarily been biographies or histories. Abdurraqib is not a musician, but is very reflective when it comes to his black heroes--both known and those who have been buried by the past. Of note is an essay about magicians and the "magical negro" trope often found in white culture, as well as an essay about various degrees of blackness and how even in African-American communities, those degrees can be used as weapons against each other. The essay about Josephine Baker and her willingness to sort of love a country that hated her because of her skin color was also a great essay. The book is filled with a lot of black pain that Abdurraquib seems to be working through in his own way of writing. Very personal, heartfelt and eye-opening.
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