Richard Pryor's daughter interweaves stories about her experiences as a professor of African American History, childhood memories, and historical information from her research. After repeated attempts to address the use of a slur in her classroom, she researches its history and finds that she cannot avoid acknowledging how her father profoundly changed its use and with it, American culture.
This was excellent! I didn't know much about Richard Pryor as a person before this, but loved that you feel like you really get to know him through her stories. Of course parts were difficult to read, but Stordeur Pryor is an outstanding writer. Beyond the interesting elements of her father's celebrity and her teacher stories, this has that ability of any great memoir to lead the reader to recall what it's like to be 5 years old (or 13, or 21, etc.) I couldn't put it down, I have found myself recommending it to just about everyone. It's easily one of my favorites for this year.
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