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The Grey Album: Music, Shadows, Lies (2012)

by Kevin Young(Favorite Author)

4.24 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1555976077 (ISBN13: 9781555976071)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Graywolf Press

review 1: This was a fascinating, energetic, challenging book to read. And well worth it. The author, who as a poet, has a real talent for language - and uses it to open our eyes to the American story - in black and white (in particular). His writing about truth and lies is very powerful. His insights on American history, popular culture, music and poetry are wise and thoughtful. I learned a lot in reading this book - not only about the subject manner - but also about the varieties of ways good writing makes an appearance in our lives and nation. Fascinating. I’m very glad I read it.
review 2: This is one of the best works of criticism I've read in a long time. A mammoth of a book, Young documents his reading of African American culture in a style that makes you... more want to run out and plug all the gaps in the shelves where you keep your books and records. I've enjoyed Young's poetry since encountering it in a graduate class a few years back, and this book continues many of the conversations begun in books like To Repel Ghosts, For The Confederate Dead, and Ardency (well, it hits on all of the themes he tackles in his poems, but I just wanted to give a shout-out to my favorite volumes). Equally adept at talking smart about Phillis Wheatley and Biggie Smalls, this is the kind of cultural tour de force we need more of: candid, funny, all-consuming, all-American. Young has thrown down the gauntlet here for writers interested in poetry, pop culture, national identity, and all things in between. Accessible to readers unfamiliar with academic prose (you lucky dogs) and just as exciting to grad students who might recognize most of Young's reading list. Can't say enough good things about The Grey Album. less

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