“Being rich is not about how much money you have or how many homes you own; it’s the freedom to buy any book you want without looking at the price and wondering if you can afford it. —John Waters
An Unkindness of Ghosts, my debut novelabout a young (disabled, intersex, lesbian/queer) Black woman living in the slums of a generation ship, came out October 2017.
I’ve been really honored by the overwhelmingly positive response; however, I wanted to do a little bit of book-related outreach, to make sure anyone who might be interested in Unkindnesshas at least heard of it! So this is my little masterlist post of all the reasons you might want to buy this book or pick it up from your library! tl;dr, it’s gay as shit.
1) Okay, so it feels decidedly notgood to me to simplify complex social locations into a laundry list of identities, but I do think Unkindness will speak to folks looking for books exploring the following topics & experiences:
– being trans, nonbinary, genderweird, genderantagonistic, gendertraumatized – being a dyke, dykegender, loving women, wanting women – being autistic, adhd, psychotic, “not otherwise specified,” borderline, PTSD – being a descendant of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, a refugee, & diasporan
2) A lot of folks have had nothing but kind things to say, and here’s a little blurb that gives you a better idea about what An Unkindness of Ghosts is actually about.
“Solomon’s big, unflinching and poetically detailed sci-fi debut tells the story of Aster Grey, an orphan raised on the slavery deck of a starship called the HSS Matilda as she searches for answers to her mother’s death and the mystery of the forces who control the starship. Aster is both neuroatypical and queer, and these elements of her characterization work seamlessly and nonexploitatively into a plot that mirrors so many of our own world’s greatest injustices, probing at our ideas about classism, racism, abuse and tyranny. A stunning first novel by a writer I can’t wait to see more from.”
Amal El-Mohtar’s stellar review in NPR said of the book:
What Solomon achieves with this debut — the sharpness, the depth, the precision — puts me in mind of a syringe full of stars. I want to say about this book, its only imperfection is that it ended.
It’s been favorably reviewed on several blogs and other venues as well!
3) It made more end-of-year lists that I can count, including
You can read an interview with me, the author (Rivers Solomon) about the book at The Rumpus: Magical Systems and Fusion Reactors, and you can read an excerpt in the Rumpus here.
ANYWAY, my cat almost deleted this whole ass post so I think that’s a sign I should quit while I’m ahead. Thanks for your support. Please reblog if you feel up to it.
I’m afraid of driving in Maine because what if Stephen King is jaywalking? What if I hit him? I don’t want my legacy to be That Guy That Ran Over Stephen King the Second Time.
listen kiddo i’m from new england and let me tell you you have a lot more to worry about than accidental murder
Oh, I’m not worried about killing Stephen King. I’m worried that I’ll run over him and he’ll survive and then go on to write a mean Dark Tower tie-in story about me using my real name and having me responsible for the death of a beloved character.
Stephen King got hit by a van while walking in 1999 and nearly died. He later wrote the driver responsible, a man named Bryan Edwin Smith, into his magnum opus Dark Tower series. It’s very bizarre and convoluted, but one of the main characters of the series dies by throwing himself in front of the van to safe Stephen King’s self-insert, Stephen King.
Also: Yes you read that right, Stephen King is an important character in Stephen King’s fictional universe.
Omg what the fuck
I live in Maine don’t do this to me I’m trying to get my permit noOO
Stephen King’s pseudonem Richard Bachman and Richard’s fictional wife also get mentions
Bryan Edwin Smith was the dad of Nathan Smith, the kid who bullied me in middle school
Mr Smith was breaking up a fight between pitbulls in the back of his van when he ran off the road, striking King, and the fallout from King’s fanbase and lawsuits were so severe he killed himself and his kid left my school
adam’s college roommate: hey dude wanna go to commons and get dinner
adam, dissociated to the seventh dimension, arranging a pentagram of candles, smoking black cauldron in the middle, tarot cards spilling out of his pockets: what
Inspired by the book and its curated collection of photographs and stories, Dandy Lions will chart the history of the Black Dandy fashion and style movement and its increased attention in recent years, with the popularity of social media platforms such as Street Etiquette, and celebrities like Jidenna, Amar’e Stoudemire and Janelle Monae. The book was published by Aperture in 2017 to solid reviews.
Characterized by outfits that pop with brilliant colors, loud patterns and tailored precision, the movement has continued over many generations in black cultures around the world to become a recognizable aesthetic; but the story of Black Dandyism’s political roots, which originate in Enlightenment England’s slavery culture, represents a less well-known aspect of its story. Set today against the backdrop of hip hop culture that involves socially relevant conversations around police brutality, gender and more, Dandy Lions will explore how, as author Lewis puts it, “for black men, fashion choices can be a matter of life and death.”
“Today, when race sits at the center of many conversations, Dandy Lions argues how style has, and can be, a tool of resistance, while also asserting that Blackness, despite its often one-dimensional misrepresentation in the media, is not a monolith,” Lewis added.
“This project looks at how men dress in the Dandy style across the world and how they influence culture through a powerful positive lens,” said Davis and Tennon.
THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD
goddamn I’m pumped
if you liked Dandy Lions, check out Slaves to Fashion by Monica L. Miller
alder-knight 