# A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance - Hardcover

by **Hanif Abdurraqib** (Author)

**NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - A sweeping, genre-bending "masterpiece" (Minneapolis _Star Tribune_) exploring Black art, music, and culture in all their glory and complexity--from** **_Soul Train,_ Aretha Franklin, and James Brown to _The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,_ Whitney Houston, and Beyoncé**  
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ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: _Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer,_ _The Dallas Morning News, Publishers Weekly_**

**"Gorgeous essays that reveal the resilience, heartbreak, and joy within Black performance."--Brit Bennett, #1 _New York Times_ bestselling author of _The Vanishing Half_**

"I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too." Inspired by these few words, spoken by Josephine Baker at the 1963 March on Washington, MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellow and bestselling author 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 examines--whether it's 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 dealt--has layers of resonance in Black and white cultures, the politics of American empire, and Abdurraqib's own personal history of love, grief, and performance.

Touching on Michael Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Billy Dee Williams, the Wu-Tan Clan, Dave Chappelle, and more, Abdurraqib writes prose brimming with jubilation and pain. 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 space--from midcentury Paris to the moon, and back down again to a cramped living room in Columbus, Ohio.

**WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL AND THE GORDON BURN PRIZE **\-** FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD AND THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD**

**ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: _The New York Times Book Review, Time,_ _The Boston Globe,_ NPR, _Rolling Stone,_ _Esquire_, _BuzzFeed,_ _Thrillist, She Reads, BookRiot_, _BookPage,_ _Electric Lit, The Rumpus, LitHub, Library Journal, Booklist_**

### Author Biography

**Hanif Abdurraqib** is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in _PEN American_, _Muzzle_, _Vinyl_, and other journals, and his essays and criticism have been published in _The New Yorker_, _Pitchfork_, _The New York Times_, and _Fader_. His first full-length poetry collection, _The Crown Ain't Worth Much_, was named a finalist for the Eric Hoffer book award and nominated for a Hurston-Wright Legacy Award. His first collection of essays, _They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us_ was named a book of the year by NPR_,_ _Esquire_, _BuzzFeed_, _O: The Oprah Magazine_, _Pitchfork_ and _Chicago Tribune_, among others. _Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest_ was a _New York Times_ bestseller and a National Book Critics Circle Award and Kirkus Prize finalist and was longlisted for the National Book Award. His second collection of poems, _A Fortune for Your Disaster_, won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. He is a graduate of Beechcroft High School. In 2021, he was named a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellow.

**Number of Pages:** 320

**Dimensions:** 1.2 x 8.2 x 5.7 IN

**Publication Date:** March 30, 2021

**Award:** National Book Awards (2021)

**Award:** ALA Notable Books (2022)

**Award:** Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence (2022)

## Details

- **Price:** 27.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 27.00 USD | In stock |

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- A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance - Hardcover

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