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Title details for A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib - Available

A Little Devil in America

Notes in Praise of Black Performance

by Hanif Abdurraqib
JD Jackson
Audiobook
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1 of 1 copy available
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A sweeping, genre-bending “masterpiece” (Minneapolis Star Tribune) exploring Black art, music, and culture in all their glory and complexity—from Soul Train, Aretha Franklin, and James Brown to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Whitney Houston, and Beyoncé

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Dallas Morning News, Publishers Weekly
“Gorgeous essays that reveal the resilience, heartbreak, and joy within Black performance.”—Brit Bennett, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Half
“I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too.” Inspired by these few words, spoken by Josephine Baker at the 1963 March on Washington, MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow and bestselling author Hanif Abdurraqib has written a profound and lasting reflection on how Black performance is inextricably woven into the fabric of American culture. Each moment in every performance he examines—whether it’s the twenty-seven seconds in “Gimme Shelter” in which Merry Clayton wails the words “rape, murder,” a schoolyard fistfight, a dance marathon, or the instant in a game of spades right after the cards are dealt—has layers of resonance in Black and white cultures, the politics of American empire, and Abdurraqib’s own personal history of love, grief, and performance.
Touching on Michael Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Billy Dee Williams, the Wu-Tan Clan, Dave Chappelle, and more, Abdurraqib writes prose brimming with jubilation and pain. With care and generosity, he explains the poignancy of performances big and small, each one feeling intensely familiar and vital, both timeless and desperately urgent. Filled with sharp insight, humor, and heart, A Little Devil in America exalts the Black performance that unfolds in specific moments in time and space—from midcentury Paris to the moon, and back down again to a cramped living room in Columbus, Ohio.
WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL AND THE GORDON BURN PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD AND THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, The Boston Globe, NPR, Rolling Stone, Esquire, BuzzFeed, Thrillist, She Reads, BookRiot, BookPage, Electric Lit, The Rumpus, LitHub, Library Journal, Booklist

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    March 30, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593156049
      • File size: 277820 KB
      • Duration: 09:38:47

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      No wonder Hanif Abdurraqib's collection of lyrical essays--thoughtful, beautifully written, and intelligently performed by JD Jackson--is a finalist for the National Book Award. In five related movements, "Performing Miracles," "Suspending Disbelief," "Matters of Country/Provenance," "Anatomy of Closeness/Chasing Blood," and "Callings to Remember," Abdurraqib focuses on Black life, Black performance, and Black exceptionalism. Jackson delivers each small gem with as much delight as there is anger and pain behind the words. In portraits of such Black luminaries as Josephine Baker, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Dave Chappelle, Beyonc�, and more, rage and compassion combine in an inspired stream of consciousness. Abdurraqib is a poet whose reflections offer a compelling look at Black performance in white America, and Jackson's narration gives it that extra something that will keep listeners listening. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from January 18, 2021
      In this staggeringly intimate meditation, essayist and poet Abdurraqib (Go Ahead in the Rain), chronicles Black performance in American culture. Broken into five “movements” consisting of essays, fragments, and prose poems, Abdurraqib weaves cultural analyses with personal stories. “On the Certain and Uncertain Movement of Limbs” captures Whitney Houston’s performance at the 1988 Grammy Awards (“And I will tell you what I know, and what I know is that Whitney Houston could not dance”). In “On Going Home as Performance,” Abdurraqib commemorates Michael Jackson on the night of his death in a club where “there wasn’t enough space for the bodies to do anything except dance.” Abdurraqib shines a light on how Black artists have shaped—and been shaped by—American culture: he outlines Josephine Baker’s life as a performer and a spy, and examines the “magical negro” trope and “the laughter of white people” through performances by Dave Chappelle and magician Ellen Armstrong. Abdurraqib addresses his commentary to readers both alive and dead, referring to “my dearest dancing ancestors,” “magically endowed problem solvers,” the “non-Black reader or scholar of history,” and a “dearly departed band of brothers,” and his prose is reliably razor-sharp. Filled with nuance and lyricism, Abdurraqib’s luminous survey is stunning.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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