This book is an education, immersive in the way excellent fantasy novels often are. Inasmuch as it's possible to grok another culture, Brown has invited me into the experience of growing up black in America. The racism, yes, and the violence perpetrated against, but also sports and music, friendship and fatherhood, the rhythm of language and the claiming of heritage and history, heroes and tremulous, pained hope. I want to read more of Young's poetry...and once I have, I'm coming back to discover these again. ( )

Young displays a mastery of imagery in these poems, which meld the past and the present together in terms of racial injustice alongside racial pride. Many of these poems were composed with the rhythms of songs that distinctly play out in my mind when reading them. Although a lot of the poems have an underlying sense of fear and/or sadness, hope shines through in the last poem, "Hive," which is my favorite of the entire collection. Full review to follow. ( )

the most mawkish, least interesting memoir ever written, once given random line breaks, becomes acclaimed 2018 poetry. (shoutout fu-schnickens) ( )

This is why I love the Book Riot Read Harder challenge; I rarely read poetry, and read this in response to the Read Harder prompt "A collection of poetry published since 2014. The collection was wonderful, not a weak piece. I was particularly delighted with Ode to the Harlem Globetrotters (turning tears into confetti is one of the most heartbreaking and true allusions I have heard.) De la Soul is Dead was a close second, and the best laugh came in the Ode to Old Dirty Bastard. And there are a lot of laughs, a lot of joy in this collection, but it takes its place beside a lot of anger, a lot of frustration and confusion. The Emmett Till piece is gutting and adds depth to the stark pain as Young invokes the names of Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland and other more recent victims of the devaluation of black lives. This slim volume touches on every aspect of brown-ness in a way that demands real reflection rather than just visceral response, and at this moment in time I can't imagine a more noble and necessary thing to demand than reflection.

One note: Young wears his love of music well. In addition to the omnipresent references to music, (from Prince to ODB to James Brown to Jim Carroll to Radiohead to Leadbelly) there is a rich musicality to Young's poetry, and listening to him read on the audio was a real advantage for me. ( )