Take a photo of a barcode or cover
franciscooke 's review for:
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us
by Hanif Abdurraqib
An astonishing book. It presents itself as a collection of music essays, ranging across the spectrum to cover various artists I already love (Prince, Nina Simone, Bruce Springsteen, Carly Rae Jepsen) and diving deep into Willis-Abdurraqib’s history with and love for mid-aughts emo bands (My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, The Wonder Years, Cute Is What We Aim For, Defiance, Ohio), many of whom I was completely unfamiliar with. But, especially as the book hits its second half, it becomes more and more a series of (often simultaneously) autobiographical and political reflections - sometimes through the prism of music, sometimes not - that are deeply affecting, and some of the best writing that I've read all year.