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4.61 AVERAGE
4.61 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
i don’t have words yet to accurately describe the impact this book has had on me. but never fear, my desire to yap will overpower my inability to do this book justice SOON
*returns 2 weeks later*
it was silly of me to think i could ever fully describe the value that lies within this masterpiece, but that doesn't mean i cannot try. hanif abdurraqib somehow makes use of language seem incredibly easy while also making it seem near impossible. how am i supposed to use the same words he uses when i know it will never be nearly as profound?
this essay collection covers subjects near and dear to my heart (namely fall out boy and my chemical romance), while also tackling universal experiences of grief and loss. it's analytical without being boring. it's personal without being self-aggrandizing. it's poignant without being pretentious. whatever pitfalls may awai an essay collection, hanif manages to expertly dodge. hanif can write an essay about the rapper future, someone to whom i have never dedicated more than two seconds of my thoughts before, and suddenly i am deeply invested in how heartbreak manifests itself in his music. because hanif is simply that good!!
i killed a highlighter in the process of annotating this book, fully drained it of life. there were simply too many lines to mark. no matter the subject matter, the brilliance and insight jump off the page. from a heartbreaking essay detailing the loss of his mother and missing the sound of her laugh, to a more lighthearted tone in writing about the experience of having a crush, i was able to take away something of value from every single piece.
i will read literally anything and everything this man writes ever again <3
also, i left this book as a carly rae jepsen fan, so do with that information what you will!
*returns 2 weeks later*
it was silly of me to think i could ever fully describe the value that lies within this masterpiece, but that doesn't mean i cannot try. hanif abdurraqib somehow makes use of language seem incredibly easy while also making it seem near impossible. how am i supposed to use the same words he uses when i know it will never be nearly as profound?
this essay collection covers subjects near and dear to my heart (namely fall out boy and my chemical romance), while also tackling universal experiences of grief and loss. it's analytical without being boring. it's personal without being self-aggrandizing. it's poignant without being pretentious. whatever pitfalls may awai an essay collection, hanif manages to expertly dodge. hanif can write an essay about the rapper future, someone to whom i have never dedicated more than two seconds of my thoughts before, and suddenly i am deeply invested in how heartbreak manifests itself in his music. because hanif is simply that good!!
i killed a highlighter in the process of annotating this book, fully drained it of life. there were simply too many lines to mark. no matter the subject matter, the brilliance and insight jump off the page. from a heartbreaking essay detailing the loss of his mother and missing the sound of her laugh, to a more lighthearted tone in writing about the experience of having a crush, i was able to take away something of value from every single piece.
i will read literally anything and everything this man writes ever again <3
also, i left this book as a carly rae jepsen fan, so do with that information what you will!
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
genuinely one of the most beautiful books i’ve ever read
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
I’ll refrain from rating this book because I skipped a few essays about artists I didn’t know or wasn’t interested in. This book had been on my to-read list for years, but after reading it, I realized that I wasn’t the right audience for it. I love music, but perhaps not enough to read a book of essays about it. And I enjoy the occasional nonfiction, but even this felt too dense for me. (The essays are rarely more than 10 pages each!)
Abdurraqib is an excellent writer, and his poetry background really shows in his prose. This was sometimes to my detriment, as I had a hard time following his lengthier or more creative sentences. Nonetheless, he writes sincerely and with empathy, and I admired his vulnerability and dry sense of humor. Aburraqib’s voice is a treasure.
My favorite essays were:
-A Night in Bruce Springsteen’s America
-The Night Prince Walked on Water
-I Wasn’t Brought Here; I Was Born
-Death Becomes You
-Fall Out Boy Forever
-Black Life on Film
-Fear in Two Winters
-The Obama White House, a Brief Home for Rappers
Abdurraqib is an excellent writer, and his poetry background really shows in his prose. This was sometimes to my detriment, as I had a hard time following his lengthier or more creative sentences. Nonetheless, he writes sincerely and with empathy, and I admired his vulnerability and dry sense of humor. Aburraqib’s voice is a treasure.
My favorite essays were:
-A Night in Bruce Springsteen’s America
-The Night Prince Walked on Water
-I Wasn’t Brought Here; I Was Born
-Death Becomes You
-Fall Out Boy Forever
-Black Life on Film
-Fear in Two Winters
-The Obama White House, a Brief Home for Rappers
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
this was so so so good I read it and listened to it and so should everyone else
s/o drea
s/o drea
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced