RaveManhattan Book ReviewThe author assumes no prior knowledge, taking care to tell compelling stories in a concise and factual way. The book is elegantly written, flaunting the author’s mastery of theology to problematize the racist roots of present-day Christianity ... In my lifelong journey of decolonization, I am grateful for this book. It reinforced the emancipatory power of the decolonial imagination to both create and destroy ... For me, the most powerful testimonies are grounded in resistance and dissidence: how colonized peoples used apotheosis to their own advantage by reclaiming divinity.
Issac J. Bailey
RaveThe Seattle Book Review... Bailey offers an unflinching perspective about the ongoing dialogue about racism and racial justice in America ... While Trump is now out of office, this book is as relevant as ever. While the Trump era exposed the persistent undercurrent of racism embedded in institutions and systems, the author notes that race in America continues to be an \'emotional, complex\' topic.
Salamishah Tillet
RaveNew York Journal of Books[An] elegy of appreciation of Alice Walker’s genius through the Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Color Purple, which tells stories of redemption and triumph over gendered and racist violence ... Exploring the long and complex arc of the Black literary legacy that came alive in Walker’s prose, Tillett notes influences from the Black oral tradition to the writings of Zora Neale Thurston ... The book highlights interviews with movement leaders and celebrity icons who were awakened and inspired by the power of Walker’s prose, from Oprah Winfrey to Quincy Jones, from Scott Sanders to Steven Spielberg.
Gabriel García Márquez
RaveThe Manhattan Review of BooksIt’s a rare volume that offers a retrospective insight into latent yet burgeoning genius ... offers a glimpse into the literary giant’s gift for telling memorable stories, with characters and events that take root and linger in one’s consciousness ... Whether he’s writing about pimps or heads of states, García Márquez contemplates human suffering and the often-ruinous consequences of desire. In divulging imperfections among flawed humans, he manages to inspire empathy for human folly ... This volume offers the Nobel Prize winner’s astute observations, allegories and metaphors, and affinity for the macabre and fantastical. Some articles connect factual and lived reality with a supernatural bent, illustrating the author’s early forays into magical realism. The articles serve as an important reminder of why García Márquez was such a beloved storyteller: he fully understood the fragility of the human condition and, in so doing, made us feel his ruminative agony.
