I'm glad I listened to the audiobook--read by the author--because I might have otherwise bailed on this behemoth! Nevertheless, I enjoy Dyson's work and was glad to have had early access to this collection.

Dyson's excellent language and amazing ability to draw connections between history, current events, and music tradition are showcased in this substantial volume. A quarter page of lusciously descriptive phrases and imagery characterize his account of seeing Beyonce perform live. He wraps off the elaboration with a brilliantly succinct final statement. The guy got me yelling. This is a piece of work that should not be missed. I promise you. You should not consider this to be the end just yet. I, for one, am eagerly anticipating more developments.

What a great book even though it was a long read. As usual with a collection of stories, some hit differently than others, but they were all well written and the collection was put together really well (meaning I liked the order of them)

Dyson's new book is definitely a collection of his greatest hits of previously published work from 1991 to 2021. Chapters range from book introductions, sermons, speeches, interview transcripts, etc. on how various public figures including Dyson himself perform Blackness. This is one of those books where you can pick and choose the chapters that you are interested in reading. There were some chapters that were two academic for this volume (i.e. which is a reprinting of a 1990s conference paper). Some chapters that were introductions or parts of previously published books sound weird when taken out of it previous medium. Although on the flip side, they may cause readers to become interested in the other works. Interview transcripts on audio do not work well in my opinion. It would have been better if the actual audio from these conversations could have been used, in order to hear the distinct voices. Its really bad when there are interjections between speakers, it sounded like Dyson was debating himself. See the Dyson and Eddie Glaude debate in Ch 39. Lastly, I don't think Dyson needed to read the "Applause" and "Laughter" cues in the audio version.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free eARC copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

This book is fantastic. Whilst reading I recommended it to so many people-- and for those who were intimidated by the length, I explained that they could read chapters that interested them without losing out on the overall message of the book, as it is essentially a bunch of well-written essays put together in one place.

I love how we are drawn in with the first 20(ish)% about musicians and then Dyson moves on to other Black professionals. I am White, and live in Minneapolis, and am really embarrassed by what event it took for me to really dive into POC books. This one is a must-read for anyone looking to better understand a great part of American Culture.

Educators- this book could honestly be woven into any subject based on the vast and beautifully written essays that are each chapter. Have an econ class? There are multiple chapters that would apply. Music theory? Film history? US history? There are multiple chapters that would apply. Psychology? Sociology? There are multiple chapters that would apply.

This is a long—544 pages or 21 hours of audio narrated by the author—collection of speeches and essays that were given or published previously. As such, there is quite a bit of repetition, especially in terms of Mr. Dyson introducing himself and giving his substantial qualifications. There's also some content repetition between and within the pieces. His topics include Michael Jackson/Beyonce/Prince, Nas, the Isley Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, hip hop, the blues, Joe Biden, identity politics, Al Sharpton, and several basketball players (individually and in comparison to each other). This isn't a complete list.

Early in the collection, Dyson refers to an enslaved young woman who can't perform for her enslaver's entertainment any more and is tortured and killed because of it. He then mentions tennis player Naomi Osaka putting her self care ahead of her performance for others. [Dyson might have mentioned gymnast Simone Biles instead of or in addition to Osaka, but I'm not going to go back and try to find the reference.] This is what I was expecting more of throughout the book. I guess I took the description and early content too literally.

Instead, many of the chapters about musicians and athletes sound more like fan gushing. I admire several of these musicians and athletes, but I didn't care for the extended "so & so is the greatest of all time" essays. Even the segments that were less subjective were minimally instructive or valuable. I wasn't familiar with Nas before this book, so I was somewhat interested in learning that Nas and Dyson share the experience of having a loved one incarcerated. That piece did talk a bit about the heinous inequities in policing, incarceration, and the after-effects on the incarcerated, their families, and their communities. [This, of course, is handled much more comprehensively in other works, including Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow.]

Some of the chapters/pieces were downright sesquipedalian [See what I did there?!]—reading like an especially tedious textbook. As alluded to in the publisher's description, race needs to be an object of national conversation. We shouldn't need to be entertained to enter such critical discussions. Regardless, I was not entertained, engaged, inspired, or fired up by Dyson's essays, as I am often by other authors/professors/ministers/historians/cultural critics.

Thank you, NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.