A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance

US: Random House Trade Paperback, 2022. Paperback. Very Good. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A sweeping, genre-bending "masterpiece" (Min neapolis 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 In quirer, The Dallas Morning News, Publishers Weekly "Gorgeous essays that reveal the resilience, heartbreak, and joy within Bla ck 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 Hani f Abdurraqib has written a profound and lasting reflection on how Black per formance is inextricably woven into the fabric of American culture. Each mo ment in every performance he examines--whether it's the twenty-seven second s 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 spad es right after the cards are dealt--has layers of resonance in Black and wh ite cultures, the politics of American empire, and Abdurraqib's own persona l 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 intensel.