African American literature all the way. I'm especially interested in books that are about navigating identity both of the individual and within a community and I think black authors do that in ways more interesting than anyone else. I can go very long stretches of time without reading anything but academic texts and African American literature. I think the last book I really read that didn't belong to that category was one of Sophia Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic series last May (my sister loves them) or Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, which is amazing, in late 2014. It's not that I make a point to only read AfAm lit but it's easy to stay in that small world.
A very incomplete list of favorites: Paul Beatty, Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead, Danzy Senna, Percival Everett, Suzan Lori Parks, Adrienne Kennedy, Elizabeth Alexander, Claudia Rankine.
But that was pretty obvious :P Speaking of, I'll be done with my thesis that is all about race, activism, and humor in 21st century African American literature in a few hours. I can't wait for this to be over.
Yes, there's a LOT of overlap between my purely recreational interest in this kind of literature and my research.
I have a soft spot for Jeffrey Eugenides because he's all about the fluidity of identity too. Chico Buarque is amazing and needs more exposure.
Next book I'm reading is probably Monteiro Lobato's O Presidente Negro. I found it on my mom's bookshelf and it might be seriously fucked up (kinda racist Brazilian guy in the early 20th century writing about a nightmarish future with a black president) but it's way too topical to pass up. It'll probably take me forever because it's in Portuguese. But I want to read some light mindless stuff while I take a break.
A very incomplete list of favorites: Paul Beatty, Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead, Danzy Senna, Percival Everett, Suzan Lori Parks, Adrienne Kennedy, Elizabeth Alexander, Claudia Rankine.
But that was pretty obvious :P Speaking of, I'll be done with my thesis that is all about race, activism, and humor in 21st century African American literature in a few hours. I can't wait for this to be over.
Yes, there's a LOT of overlap between my purely recreational interest in this kind of literature and my research.
I have a soft spot for Jeffrey Eugenides because he's all about the fluidity of identity too. Chico Buarque is amazing and needs more exposure.
Next book I'm reading is probably Monteiro Lobato's O Presidente Negro. I found it on my mom's bookshelf and it might be seriously fucked up (kinda racist Brazilian guy in the early 20th century writing about a nightmarish future with a black president) but it's way too topical to pass up. It'll probably take me forever because it's in Portuguese. But I want to read some light mindless stuff while I take a break.
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