Young draws together these disparate artists in the common tradition and form of storying.' -Creative Loafing Atlanta'This is a narrative of surprises-a book of secrets, too, though many of those secrets, as we discover, are cunningly hidden in plain sight (or in plain speech). to Sojourner Truth to James Baldwin to James Brown to Colson Whitehead to Alice Walker to Wu-Tang Clan to Louis Armstrong. Young entertains as much as he teaches and broadens our understanding of the unifying threads of America's unique cultural traditions.' - Shelf Awareness 'The mind of poet Kevin Young's career has shimmered with the breadth of African-American culture, a place to explore, to dig deep and find riches to condense, jewels to polish. are not just those of learning erudite details of black American history, but also those of hearing the impassioned impressions of a poet diving deep into his own personal history. Young offers fresh, incisive assessments of myriad writers and musicians, performers all of the storytelling and counterfeiting conventions and traditions.' - Publishers Weekly 'The pleasures in The Grey Album. Young moves through slave narratives and spirituals and beatniks and funk in a multifaceted yet coherent work comprising history, analysis, and theory.

As intricate and ingenious as his critiques are, Young is confiding, poignant, appreciative, witty, and poetic.' - Booklist (starred review) ' elegant and informative study. Young reads, listens, and observes with acute, questing attention, following 'underground railroads of meaning' and tracing artistic lineages and bursts of fresh invention. Who is the liar, who the thief, who is telling whose history, and who is keeping score? Young forces us to contemplate who controls the music., Praise for The Grey Album: 'In his first prose book, an expansive and radiantly interpretive exploration of 'black creativity,' proves to be an exceptionally fluent, evocative, deep-diving, and bracing critic. In his new work of literary and cultural criticism, The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness, the accomplished poet Kevin Young unearths, orchestrates, improvises and imagines lies and more lies-in short, American history.

The Grey Album by Kevin Young