Black Folk Could Fly by Randall Kenan

Hello my lovely readers! Another day, another Randall Kenan book! Let's get into it. 

SYNOPSIS
"Rich in identity," as he described himself, Randall Kenan wrote widely and profoundly about what it meant to be Black, gay, and Southern. He confessed himself "elusive"--yet revealed himself in astonishing prose--memories of his three mothers (especially Mama, his great-aunt); recollections of his boyhood fear of snakes and his rapture in books; his sensual evocations of tobacco picking and hogkilling, butterbeans and scuppernongs, of the eastern North Carolina lowlands where he grew up. Here too is his intellectual coming-of-age: his passion for science fiction; his informed and ecstatic appreciations of James Baldwin, Ingmar Bergman, Gordon Parks, and Eartha Kitt; his grappling with the politics and meaning of race (a fiction) and home (an inescapable, visceral reality).

This powerful collection is a testament to a polymathic mind, a wise soul, and a sublimely gifted writer from whom readers will always wish to have more to read.

MY THOUGHTS
I HATE that I discovered Randall Kenan after he died! What's ironic is that this book was sitting at my job when it had just been released back in 2022 and I dismissed it then because I wasn't a fan of books that were made up of essays or collected writings. Doh!

This was my first time reading a collection of essays/writings and clearly, I've been missing out! This was a fabulous collection of writings and Kenan's writings are incredibly honest and intimately revealing. He had such a deep and rich way of describing the South, his meeting with Eartha Kitt, his love for science-fiction and Black culture. 

I can't wait to read the rest of Kenan's bibliography. He was so good, I can't stand it.