808s & Otherworlds: Memories, Remixes, & Mythologies (Paperback)
Staff Reviews
This amorphous and profound collection of poetry is pure brilliance. Medlin masterfully pulls you into worlds unknown and known. Set with the backdrop of the Phoenix suburbs, Medlin examines systemic racism, celebrity, and what the future can be. Ultimately, this collection is a love letter and a call for hope while acknowledging the struggles that must be overcome to reach a better world. There are some books that you simply should not ignore and at this moment you are looking at one. — From Quinn's Picks (page 2)
Description
"September's Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Literature" --Lambda Literary
"Most-Anticipated New LGBTQIA+ Books of 2021" --Paperback Paris
"An elegant mash of memoir, poetry, tales of appropriation, thoughts on Black masculinity, Hulk, Kanye." --Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune
808s & Otherworlds announces a bold and incendiary new voice in Sean Avery Medlin. Against the backdrop of the Phoenix suburbs where they were raised, Medlin interrogates the effects of media misrepresentation on the performance of Black masculinity. Through storytelling rhymes and vulnerable narratives in conversation with both contemporary Hip-Hop culture and systemic anti-Blackness, 808s & Otherworlds pieces together a speculative reality where Blackfolk are simultaneously superhuman and dehumanized.
From the gut-wrenchingly real stories of young lovers unmythed by segregation or former classmates appropriating Black culture, to the fantastic settings of Hip-Hop songs and comic characters, Medlin weaves a tapestry of worlds and otherworlds while composing a love letter to family and self, told to an undeniably energetic beat.