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THIS IS MAJOR

NOTES ON DIANA ROSS, DARK GIRLS, AND BEING DOPE

A hilarious, heartbreaking, and endlessly entertaining homage to black women’s resilience and excellence.

A memoir in essays serves as a bold and deeply personal celebration of black women’s lives and culture.

Black women, writes poet and creative writing instructor Lawson, have always been “possessed of irony and rebellion,” blazing trails and disrupting the status quo. The problem is that “the world wants everything we have to offer, except us. It is not that Black Girl Magic isn’t real. It is that it doesn’t set us free.” In a narrative that is part memoir and part lively social history lesson, the author blends her own story with black women’s broader cultural histories. An essay on the rough emotional terrain of Lawson’s senior year in high school and early 20s gives way to pieces about her failure to become “Twitter famous,” dealing with bias in a “transparent creative sustainable millennial” workplace, and white people mistaking her for black celebrities such as Oprah and Whoopi Goldberg. With smart, infectious prose that often reads like poetry, Lawson illuminates the racism that renders so many black women and their accomplishments invisible—literally, in the case of AI’s discrimination problem. The author also details lesser-known histories about the true origins of the term “hipster” and Rodeo Caldonia, a 1980s-era performance collective of radical black Brooklynites who “were fourth-wave feminists before Riot Grrrl ever hit the third wave.” Lawson celebrates Diana Ross as “major,” an icon who is both “intimate and invincible,” a balm for black women who are routinely viewed as “difficult” or “impossible to get close to.” The music of SZA inspires an extended meditation on dating disasters, sexual double standards, and heartbreak. Lawson’s essays—some traditional, some experimental in form—deftly challenge the notion of #BlackGirlMagic” as an extension of the stereotype of black women as exotic beasts of burden unworthy of protection, as body parts and hairstyles to be appropriated. The author honors black women in their fullness.

A hilarious, heartbreaking, and endlessly entertaining homage to black women’s resilience and excellence.

Pub Date: June 30, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-06-289059-7

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Perennial/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020

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  • New York Times Bestseller

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TANQUERAY

A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.

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  • New York Times Bestseller

A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.

Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.

A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.

Pub Date: July 12, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2

Page Count: 192

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022

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MELANIA

A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.

A carefully curated personal portrait.

First ladies’ roles have evolved significantly in recent decades. Their memoirs typically reflect a spectrum of ambition and interests, offering insights into their values and personal lives. Melania Trump, however, stands out as exceptionally private and elusive. Her ultra-lean account attempts to shed light on her public duties, initiatives, and causes as first lady, and it defends certain actions like her controversial “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket. The statement was directed at the media, not the border situation, she claims. Yet the book provides scant detail about her personal orbit or day-to-day interactions. The memoir opens with her well-known Slovenian origin story, successful modeling career, and whirlwind romance with Donald Trump, culminating in their 2005 marriage, followed by a snapshot of Election Day 2016: “Each time we were together that day, I was impressed by his calm.…This man is remarkably confident under pressure.” Once in the White House, Melania Trump describes her functions and numerous public events at home and abroad, which she asserts were more accomplished than media representations suggested. However, she rarely shares any personal interactions beyond close family ties, notably her affection for her son, Barron, and her sister, Ines. And of course she lavishes praise on her husband. Minimal anecdotes about White House or cabinet staff are included, and she carefully defuses her rumored tensions with Trump’s adult children, blandly stating, “While we may share the same last name, each of us is distinct with our own aspirations and paths to follow.” Although Melania’s desire to support causes related to children’s and women’s welfare feels authentic, the overall tenor of her memoir seems aimed at painting a glimmering portrait of her husband and her role, likely with an eye toward the forthcoming election.

A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.

Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024

ISBN: 9781510782693

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing

Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024

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