The result is a bracing and often humorous examination by one of America’s most acclaimed essayists of what it is to grow, parent, write, and exist as a black American male. “No one-absolutely no one-I’ve read is writing better than Jerald Walker about race, being black, and the depths and complexities of our humanity.” -Charles Johnson, author of Middle Passage, winner of the National Book Awardįor the black community, Jerald Walker asserts in How to Make a Slave, “anger is often a prelude to a joke, as there is broad understanding that the triumph over this destructive emotion lay in finding its punchline.” It is on the knife’s edge between fury and farce that the essays in this exquisite collection balance. Whether confronting the medical profession’s racial biases, considering the complicated legacy of Michael Jackson, paying homage to his writing mentor James Alan McPherson, or attempting to break free of personal and societal stereotypes, Walker elegantly blends personal revelation and cultural critique. “ powerful essays offer an incisive glimpse into life as a Black man in America….Crafted with honesty and wry comedic flair, these essays are both engaging and enraging.” - Kirkus (starred review) “The essays in this collection are restless, brilliant and short.…The brevity suits not just Walker’s style but his worldview, too.…Keeping things quick gives him the freedom to move he can alight on a truth without pinning it into place.” -Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times Listen: Terry Gross interviews Jerald Walker for Fresh Air Finalist, 2020 National Book Award in Nonfictionīest of 2020: Buzzfeed, Kirkus, and Literary Hub
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