#a little devil in america

[smokefalls]

I am once again burdened by a love I inflicted on myself, and I fear it is too late to detach.

Hanif Abdurraqib, "The Josephine Baker Monument Can Never Be Large Enough" from A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance

#Hanif Abdurraqib #A Little Devil in America #quote #nonfiction #essays #2024 reads

[asoftepiloguemylove]

SHE HATED HER LIFE, NOT BECAUSE IT WAS BAD, BUT BECAUSE WHEN YOU HATE YOUR BRAIN AND YOUR BODY, IT'S HARD TO ENJOY THE REST.

Franny Choi I Guess By Now I Thought I'd Be Done With Shame / Erika L. Sánchez Amá / Franz Kafka Letters to Friends, Family, and Editors / Hanif Abdurraqib A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance / Richard Siken Birds Hover over the Trampled Field / Hélène Cixous The Selected Poems of Hélène Cixous / Alberto Zamboni Ovunque / Oscar Nin / Richard Siken Crush

i. Franny Choi I Guess By Now I Thought I'd Be Done With Shame [ Somewhere, / there is a version of me that isn't neck-deep in her invented filth. ]

ii. Erika L. Sánchez Amá [ Amá, I leave because / I feel like an unfinished / poem, because I'm always trying to bridge the difference. ]

iii. Franz Kafka Letters to Friends, Family, and Editors [ I don't feel particularly proud of myself. / But when I walk alone in the woods or lie in the meadows, all is well. ]

iv. Hanif Abdurraqib A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance [ I've run out of language to explain the avalanche of anguish I feel when faced with this world, and so if I can't make sense of this planet, I'm better off imagining another. ]

v. Richard Siken Birds Hover the Trampled Field [ The enormity of my desire disgusts me. ]

vi. Hélène Cixous The Selected Poems of Hélène Cixous [ You horrify me. But at the same time, I horrify myself. We are horrible. ]

vii. Alberto Zamboni Ovunque [ The silhouettes of two human figures stand in a room. The background is blurred around them. ]

viii. Oscar Nin [ Distressed painting portrait of a man. ]

ix. Richard Siken Crush [ a gentleness that comes, not from the absence of violence, but despite the abundance of it. ]

#i've never done image ids before i'm a little worried that they suck #franny choi #i guess by now i thought i'd be done with shame #erika l sanchez #ama #franz kafka #letters to friends family and editors #hanif abdurraqib #a little devil in america #richard siken #birds hover over the trampled field #helene cixous #alberto zamboni #ovunque #oscar nin #poetry #poem #painting #oil painting #art #artwork #poetry web weave #on self disgust #web weaving #web weave #poem web weave #writing #spilled ink #spilled thoughts #spilled poetry

[thechanelmuse]

My Book Review

OMG...I did not want this book to end 😩. It's fantastic!

Dancers, comedians, magicians, singers, boxers, rappers, movies, the dozens, spades (one of my favorite card games) and so much more all in one book ☺️. Where do I even start without saying too much?

A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance is a collection of uniquely prepped essays that combines aspects of Black American history, popular culture, customs, cultural criticism, humor, love, and personal experiences (as it relates to snippets of Hanif Abdurraqib's life and the grief of his mother's passing) into a large pot of lyrical writing. The seasoning, the richness, the poetry, the storytelling, the tapestry. I need a second serving of this gumbo.

This is the "75th" book I've read this year. You might as well say 76 because I'm def reading this again before the year ends.

Photoset: Don Cornelius' Soul Train; Whitney Houston; Bernie Mac; Ellen, John Hartford, and Lillie Armstrong; James "Buster" Douglas and Mike Tyson; Merry Clayton; Howard "Sandman" Sims.

#a little devil in america #hanif abdurraqib #black american culture #black american history #pop culture books #book recommendations

[nitewrighter]

When you find yourself chasing the tail of representation at all costs, you'd be surprised what speeds past you while you weren't even looking. And you'd be surprised by what you'll accept for yourself when you get the narrowest idea of representation fulfilled.

Hanif Abdurraqib, “Board Up the Doors, Tear Down the Walls,” A Little Devil in America

#Hanif Abdurraqib #a little devil in America #representation

[i-am-the-oyster]

Reading list (from the Eyes of the Storm exhibition shop):

The Mersey Sound - Adrian Henri, Roger McGough, and Brian Patten

The Collector - John Fowles

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - John le Carré

A Little Devil in America - Hanif Abdurraqib

#reading list #eyes of the storm #the mersey sound #adrian henri #roger mcgough #brian patten #the collector #john fowles #the bell jar #sylvia plath #the spy who came in from the cold #john le carre #a little devil in america #hanif abdurraqib

[theblindassassin]

Hanif Abdurraqib, “Nine Considerations of Black People in Space”, A Little Devil in America

#hanif abdurraqib #a little devil in america #words #literature #quotes

[iseetheworldinmetaphor]

“I wish to lock eyes across a dance floor from you while something our mothers sang in the kitchen plays over the speakers. I want us to find each other among the forest of writhing and make a deal.”

Hanif Abdurraqib, A Little Devil in America

#hanif abdurraqib #a little devil in america #writing #romance #romantic quotes #i need to dance again

[ninja-muse]

TBR: 3, 313, and 626, please!

A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib - This came into work and I thought it looked interesting.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - A sci-fi classic that has been on my TBR forever and promises me time-wimey-ness. I think either a coworker recced it to me or I saw their review in the store.

Afropean by Johny Pitts - This one I think came from Booktube? Someone was listing non-fiction on the subject of BLM and I went, "yes, that is something I know nothing about! How cool!"

Thanks for asking!

Ask me things!

#answered asks #the tbr list of doom #a little devil in america #hanif abdurraqib #the forever war #joe haldeman #afropean #johny pitts

[sofarsofastmp3]

thanks hanif. cool and normal as always!

i ALSO wish more people talked about the moments that build up to a potential brawl as intimacy.

#this is a library book. so i need to save insane paragraphs any way i can before i start hunting for a used copy #this is a little devil in america btw. really fucking good #abdurraqib #words #h #i can’t keep all the pictures of books i’ve read in my phone anymore so they have to go somewhere

[smokefalls]

I have grown weary of talking about life as if it is deserved, or earned, or gifted, or wasted. I’m going to be honest about my scorecard and just say that the math on me being here and the people who have kept me here doesn’t add up when weighed against the person I’ve been and the person I can still be sometimes. But isn’t that the entire point of gratitude? To have a relentless understanding of all the ways you could have vanished, but haven’t? The possibilities for my exits have been endless, and so the gratitude for my staying must be equally endless.

Hanif Abdurraqib, "On Times I Have Forced Myself Not to Dance" from A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance

#Hanif Abdurraqib #A Little Devil in America #quote #nonfiction #essays #2024 reads

[perilegs]

it's again that time of the year when i see these gorgeous american amusement or theme parks have high quality and budget halloween decorations and scare actors and i'm filled with jealousy, yearning, etc.

#I WANT TO BE THERE #i think america is like. i would be scared if i had to travel there. but i would kill someone to experience halloween there. #im so. auuugh #its not enough living in a country that has started to adopt halloweed bit by bit in the last decades #as in its not a holiday here and when i was a kid i really wanted to host a halloween party and my mom was like ok cool #bc she was young and a cool mom but only 2 ppl showed up bc everyone else was like 'thats the devil' or thought it was some freak shit #note this was the early 2000s so the word freak had a different tone and weight to it #leevi talks #but like. i know we have some scary actors here in amusement parks but its not enough! i want a big enough horror scene that they can host #an 18+ night (meaning no kids to bother the actors in a way kids do) #and like. have you guys seen the ones where the actors have knee pads and stuff so they can sprint at people on all fours #i want that so bad #and yes it has to be in an amusement/theme park environment #bc haunted mansion type of things scare me beyond belief #even the ones meant for little kids. i have to have my eyes half closed with someone holding my hand #i went to one with a friend like a year ago i think and it was funny bc shes like barely 150cm (like 4'11") tall #and a very petite woman and she had to drag me by the hand through it lmao #it didnt even have actors in it it was just like. props #that didnt even move iirc

[raurquiz]

#happybirthday #gretagerwig #actress #writer #director #HannahTakestheStairs #Baghead #NightsandWeekends #TheHouseoftheDevil #NorthernComfort #ToRomewithLove #FrancesHa #MistressAmerica #LadyBird #LittleWomen #MaggiesPlan #20thCenturyWomen #IsleofDogs #WhiteNoise #Barbie   

#happybirthday #greta gerwig #actress #writer #director #hannahtakesthestairs #baghead #nightsandweekends #the house of the devil #northerncomfort #toromewithlove #frances ha #mistress america #lady bird #little women #maggiesplan #20th century women #isle of dogs #white noise #barbie

[nitewrighter]

There is no church like the church of unchained arms being thrown in every direction in the silence of a sleeping home.

-Hanif Abdurraqib, A Little Devil in America

#poetry #hanif abdurraqib #a little devil in America

[smute]

i wonder how much money i've wasted on non-refundable tickets over the course of my life. makes me sick

#allein bei der deutschen bahn lmao #unbelievable #u know when you book a trip or something #and the non-refundable option is a little cheaper #and you think to yourself #reiserücktrittsversicherung? dont need her #THERES NO WAY IM GONNA MISS THIS #thats the devil talking #shit happens #all the fucking time #random unforeseeable shit #so dont be a fucking idiot like me #anyway i was trying to change a flight and. for some reason the rebooking fee is suddenly one trillion dollars #and if this were america #id probably be able to get a voucher or something #but lufthansa were just like. so would you like to cancel then? #i mean i guess? you havent exactly given me a lot of choices linda ​👹 #'you get to keep the miles' she said #yeah i fucking better #oughhhhh im gonna have to start printing money #anyway pls ignore this #tbd

[theblindassassin]

I have fallen so in love with the leaves, who do the duty of making their death beautiful, bursting from otherwise unremarkable branches before the cold browns them and grinds them to dust.

Hanif Abdurraqib, “On Going Home as Performance,” A Little Devil in America

#hanif abdurraqib #a little devil in america #words #quotes #literature #autumn

[iseetheworldinmetaphor]

To insist that violence and any form of bigotry isn't American is to continue feeding into the machinery of falsehoods and readjustments that keep this country spinning its wheels and making the same mistakes when it comes to confronting the way its past has burdened its present and future.

A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib

#a little devil in america #hanif abdurraqib #race in america #american #what is it to be american #the american way