{"product_id":"what-doesnt-kill-you-makes-damon-young-9780062684318","title":"What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Finalist for the NAACP Image Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Finalist for the Hurston\/Wright Legacy Award for Nonfiction\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the PEN\/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn NPR Best Book of the Year\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eWashington Independent Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e Favorite of the Year\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the host of podcast \"Stuck with Damon Young,\" cofounder of VerySmartBrothas.com, and one of the most read writers on race and culture at work today, a provocative and humorous memoir-in-essays that explores the ever-shifting definitions of what it means to be Black (and male) in America\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor Damon Young, existing while Black is an extreme sport. The act of possessing black skin while searching for space to breathe in America\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eis enough to induce a ceaseless state of angst where questions such as \"How should I react here, as a professional black person?\" and \"Will this white person's potato salad kill me?\" are forever relevant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhat Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker \u003c\/em\u003echronicles Young's efforts to survive while battling and making sense of the various neuroses his country has given him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt's a condition that's sometimes stretched to absurd limits: creating the farce where, as a teen, he wished for a white person to call him a racial slur just so he could fight him and have a great story about it; provoking the angst that made him question if \"being straight\" was something he could practice and get better at, like a crossover dribble; and generating the surreal experience of watching his Pittsburgh neighborhood getrify from predominantly Black to \"Portlandia . . . but with Pierogies.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd, at its most devastating, it provides him reason to believe that his mother would be alive today if she were white.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom one of our most respected cultural observers, \u003cem\u003eWhat Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker \u003c\/em\u003eis a hilarious and honest debut that is both a celebration of the idiosyncrasies and distinctions of Blackness and a critique of white supremacy and how we define masculinity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Damon Young\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0062684310\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780062684318\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ecco Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/14\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.20w x 0.80d","brand":"Damon Young","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44055378985215,"sku":"9780062684318","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_e9853ae1-479b-4b0c-9d04-f70ece512466.jpg?v=1685035423","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/what-doesnt-kill-you-makes-damon-young-9780062684318","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}