Morgan Parker Knihy

Exploring themes of loneliness and alienation, Morgan Parker reflects on her personal struggles with therapy, singleness, and depression. She connects her experiences to a broader cultural context, examining America's historical relationship with Black Americans. Through incisive essays, Parker critiques the Church's role in segregation, analyzes the implications of Bill Cosby's downfall, and discusses the complexities of visibility, particularly in the portrayal of figures like Serena Williams. Her work resonates with the ongoing dialogue about race, identity, and societal expectations.

Trapped in sunny, stifling, small-town suburbia, seventeen-year-old Morgan knows why she's in therapy. She can't count the number of times she's been the only non-white person at the sleepover, been teased for her "weird" outfits, and been told she's not "really" black. Also, she's spent most of her summer crying in bed. So there's that, too. Lately, it feels like the whole world is listening to the same terrible track on repeat - and it's telling them how to feel, who to vote for, what to believe. Morgan wonders, when can she turn this song off and begin living for herself? Life may be a never-ending hamster wheel of agony, but Morgan finds her crew of fellow outcasts, blasts music like there's no tomorrow, discovers what being black means to her, and finally puts her mental health first. She decides that, no matter what, she will always be intense, ridiculous, passionate, and sometimes hilarious. After all, darkness doesn't have to be a bad thing. Darkness is just real

First UK publication of the immense debut collection of the breakout star author of There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce and Magical Negro: award winning poet Morgan Parker