Abdurraqib’s perspective is utterly unique and refreshing. The subtitle of this books is “Notes in Praise of Black Performance” and a lot of it is about dance and music, including essays about Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, and excellent ones about Wu-Tang Clan and the rivalry between a James Brown and Joe Tex; the author is an insightful observer of popular music and what it does to audiences and performers. But it’s also more broadly about performance of the roles to which Black men have so often been relegated and because of that these essays are also about intimacy, anger, masculinity, and fear in many very candid ways. It takes a lot of courage for an author to open up his experiences in this way and I have appreciated learning from him.