num_pages: 301
description: A stirring meditation on Black performance in America from the New York Times bestselling author of Go Ahead in the RainAt the March on Washington in 1963 Josephine Baker was fifty-seven years old well beyond her most prolific days. But in her speech she was in a mood to consider her life her legacy her departure from the country she was now triumphantly returning to. I was a devil in other countries and I was a little devil in America too she told the crowd. Inspired by these few words Hanif Abdurraqib has written a profound and lasting reflection on how Black performance is inextricably woven into the fabric of American culture. Each moment in every performance he examineswhether its the twenty-seven seconds 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 spades right after the cards are dealthas layers of resonance in Black and white cultures the politics of American empire and Abdurraqibs own personal history of love grief and performance.Abdurraqib writes prose brimming with jubilation and pain infused with the lyricism and rhythm of the musicians he loves. With care and generosity he explains the poignancy of performances big and small each one feeling intensely familiar and vital both timeless and desperately urgent. Filled with sharp insight humor and heart A Little Devil in America exalts the Black performance that unfolds in specific moments in time and spacefrom midcentury Paris to the moon and back down again to a cramped living room in Columbus Ohio.
language: English
title: A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance
publisher: Random House