Race relations

You (Best Be) Ready

/ b.steffens / 2 Comments

The first time I watched Tiffany Haddish on TV, she was telling a story about how an old guy died while she grinded on him at a bar mitzvah. Then of course I heard the story about her taking Will and Jada Pinkett Smith on a Groupon swamp tour. From there, I read about the $4,000 white Alexander McQueen dress that she insisted on wearing at the Girls Trip premiere, SNL, the Oscars, and, most recently, the MVT Movie & TV Awards. Haddish and her antics have been everywhere the past two years, and I wanted more.

Then I came across her memoir The Last Black Unicorn. You know how I feel about memoirs. This time was different.

Haddish’s standup comedy special famously proclaims, “She ready!” Me too, girl, me too.

The Last Black Unicorn

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At a Loss for Words

/ b.steffens / 1 Comment

The Specs

  • What: New People
  • Who: Danzy Senna
  • Pages: 229
  • Genre: Contemporary adult fiction
  • Published: 2017
  • The lit: 1463390917-2400px1463390917-2400px of 5 flames

Rarely do I not know what to say about a book. Usually I could talk for hours about a specific plot, character development, narrative arc, setting, etc. etc. etc. And whether I loved or hated the book usually doesn’t matter. I’m a bibliophile; I can talk about books forever.

But Danzy Senna’s 2017 novel, New People had me coming up short. All I can say is that it barely ignited two flames. This might seem harsh, but honestly, the only thing that kept me reading was knowing that I only had to get through 229 pages. “Get through.” That’s not how I speak of literature. New People lacked depth and explanation, and while the bones are there for a great story, they were poorly constructed. I felt lost in every one of those 229 pages.

New People

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