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Racebook: A Personal History of the Internet
From the author of Hugo and NAACP Image Award finalist Riot Baby, an original memoir in essays that interrogates how identities are shaped and informed in online spaces and how the relationship between race and the Internet has changed in his three decades online
When Tochi Onyebuchi realized that his acclaimed science fiction and fantasy storytelling career had been centrally preoccupied with race, it prompted him to consider his sense of duty as a Black writer in the Internet age. Racebook seeks to explode identity-based presumptions, exploring the early Internet of the late 1990s and early 2000s and recalling in parallel the origins of Onyebuchi as a writer, how his racial presence was defined online then, and how it shifted.
With an incisive eye, Racebook illustrates Onyebuchi’s personal relationship to the Internet, proceeding from the current moment when everything, including personal identity, is for sale, and tracing his online self in reverse chronological order to reevaluate Web 1.0’s promises of greater equality. Deftly examining the evolution of Web 1.0 to Web 3.0—from the digital-cultural limitations on social justice then and now, to the ever-changing face of blogging and the inception of Virtual Reality and its failed experiments—Onyebuchi mediates on the roles and restrictions Black writers and characters are subject to, the purpose of virtual worlds, and how the Internet amplifies our failures of imagination.
A new, compelling investigation of race through the lens of the modern Internet age, and a profoundly intellectual journey in pursuit of community online, Onyebuchi argues for a recognition of the individual behind the data, ultimately asking “Is this a race book or is it not? Is it either-or? Can it be both-and? Can I?”
When Tochi Onyebuchi realized that his acclaimed science fiction and fantasy storytelling career had been centrally preoccupied with race, it prompted him to consider his sense of duty as a Black writer in the Internet age. Racebook seeks to explode identity-based presumptions, exploring the early Internet of the late 1990s and early 2000s and recalling in parallel the origins of Onyebuchi as a writer, how his racial presence was defined online then, and how it shifted.
With an incisive eye, Racebook illustrates Onyebuchi’s personal relationship to the Internet, proceeding from the current moment when everything, including personal identity, is for sale, and tracing his online self in reverse chronological order to reevaluate Web 1.0’s promises of greater equality. Deftly examining the evolution of Web 1.0 to Web 3.0—from the digital-cultural limitations on social justice then and now, to the ever-changing face of blogging and the inception of Virtual Reality and its failed experiments—Onyebuchi mediates on the roles and restrictions Black writers and characters are subject to, the purpose of virtual worlds, and how the Internet amplifies our failures of imagination.
A new, compelling investigation of race through the lens of the modern Internet age, and a profoundly intellectual journey in pursuit of community online, Onyebuchi argues for a recognition of the individual behind the data, ultimately asking “Is this a race book or is it not? Is it either-or? Can it be both-and? Can I?”
256 pages, Hardcover
Published October 21, 2025
18 people are currently reading
5377 people want to read
About the author
Tochi Onyebuchi
92 books1,343 followersTochi Onyebuchi is the author of Beasts Made of Night, its sequel Crown of Thunder, War Girls, and Riot Baby, published by Tor.com in January 2020. He has graduated from Yale University, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia Law School, and L’institut d’études politiques with a Masters degree in Global Business Law.
His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Omenana, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, and elsewhere. His non-fiction has appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Nowhere Magazine, Tor.com and the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. He is the winner of the Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African and has appeared in Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading list.
Born in Massachusetts and raised in Connecticut, Tochi is a consummate New Englander, preferring the way the tree leaves turn the color of fire on I-84 to mosquitoes and being able to boil eggs on pavement. He has worked in criminal justice, the tech industry, and immigration law, and prays every day for a new album from System of a Down.
His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Omenana, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, and elsewhere. His non-fiction has appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Nowhere Magazine, Tor.com and the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. He is the winner of the Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African and has appeared in Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading list.
Born in Massachusetts and raised in Connecticut, Tochi is a consummate New Englander, preferring the way the tree leaves turn the color of fire on I-84 to mosquitoes and being able to boil eggs on pavement. He has worked in criminal justice, the tech industry, and immigration law, and prays every day for a new album from System of a Down.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 22, 2025
”One curses video games and God and sometimes in the same breath, but the child generally asks God for a video game.”
I found this collection of essays on the internet and video games fascinating. I’m chronically online, and I find it so strange that so many millennials grew up online but still ended up on completely different sides of the internet and video games. Tochi Onyebuchi and I were on very different sites and played different games, but it’s fascinating to see how the internet has shaped us in similar ways.
I especially loved the reflections on video games and violence, Pokémon GO, and how the internet lets us learn so much while simultaneously damaging us and directly affecting our brains by giving them too much stimulation. The privatization and curation of the internet and social media have stunted us emotionally and messed with our intelligence. It was cool to read Onyebuchi’s essays exploring the old internet vs. the new internet and the cognitive decline caused by something that has given us so much. Bottom line: go touch some grass.
I liked this sentence:
“Video games are a gym membership for your social relationships.”
I found this collection of essays on the internet and video games fascinating. I’m chronically online, and I find it so strange that so many millennials grew up online but still ended up on completely different sides of the internet and video games. Tochi Onyebuchi and I were on very different sites and played different games, but it’s fascinating to see how the internet has shaped us in similar ways.
I especially loved the reflections on video games and violence, Pokémon GO, and how the internet lets us learn so much while simultaneously damaging us and directly affecting our brains by giving them too much stimulation. The privatization and curation of the internet and social media have stunted us emotionally and messed with our intelligence. It was cool to read Onyebuchi’s essays exploring the old internet vs. the new internet and the cognitive decline caused by something that has given us so much. Bottom line: go touch some grass.
I liked this sentence:
“Video games are a gym membership for your social relationships.”
May 23, 2025
This essay collection is everything. You will laugh. You will cry. You will generally have a great time and if you(like Tochi)are a nerd in any way, then you will see yourself in his essays. Some of them are utterly harrowing as the delve into the horrors that the internet has allowed us to have easy access to, some are moving recognitions of what it means to be Black on the internet and why it actually matters, and above all, they will make you think of your place on the internet as it exists today.
All in all, RACEBOOK is fantastic and I absolutely see myself coming back to it with a pen for underlining.
All in all, RACEBOOK is fantastic and I absolutely see myself coming back to it with a pen for underlining.
November 18, 2025
arc kindly sent by the publisher. all opinions are my own.
“are we making money in order to advance the human race? or are we advancing the human race to make money?”
this collection of essays is an exploration of technology advancement, capitalism and, most of all, everything that makes us human.
being on the internet today means showing yourself to complete strangers in a waltz between truth and performance. we do this with the hopes of finding community - after all we are social beings. at the same time, being on the internet today means seeing tragedy in front of your eyes and not knowing what to do to make it stop, getting harassed for simply existing or stating your opinion, and fighting trolls 24/7.
in this shared reality (as onyebuchi calls it), we live our lives through a screen, finding and building new meanings every day. the internet is constantly changing because we are. we are the internet and we will probably die with a phone in our hands. worth a read.
“are we making money in order to advance the human race? or are we advancing the human race to make money?”
this collection of essays is an exploration of technology advancement, capitalism and, most of all, everything that makes us human.
being on the internet today means showing yourself to complete strangers in a waltz between truth and performance. we do this with the hopes of finding community - after all we are social beings. at the same time, being on the internet today means seeing tragedy in front of your eyes and not knowing what to do to make it stop, getting harassed for simply existing or stating your opinion, and fighting trolls 24/7.
in this shared reality (as onyebuchi calls it), we live our lives through a screen, finding and building new meanings every day. the internet is constantly changing because we are. we are the internet and we will probably die with a phone in our hands. worth a read.
June 8, 2025
Book Review: Racebook: A Personal History of the Internet by Tochi Onyebuchi - A Public Health Practitioner’s Perspective
Tochi Onyebuchi’s Racebook is a searing, genre-defying memoir that excavates the internet’s dual role as both a liberator and an oppressor in shaping racial identity and public health narratives. As a public health professional, I found myself oscillating between awe at Onyebuchi’s lyrical dissection of digital life and discomfort at how eerily his personal anecdotes mirrored systemic health disparities—algorithmic bias as a social determinant, viral misinformation as an epidemic, and online communities as both sanctuaries and battlegrounds.
Emotional Resonance: Between Nostalgia and Dread
Reading Racebook felt like watching an X-ray of the internet’s bones—revealing fractures we’ve learned to ignore. Onyebuchi’s recollections of early online forums triggered my own memories of HIV/AIDS advocacy groups finding solace in anonymity, only to later confront how those same spaces amplified stigma. His passages on algorithmic racism (“the digital redlining of search results”) evoked visceral parallels to clinical decision tools that perpetuate care disparities. What unsettled me most was recognizing public health’s complicity: We’ve treated “digital literacy” as a Band-Aid rather than demanding structural changes to tech’s harms.
Key Public Health Insights
-The Internet as a Social Determinant: Onyebuchi’s memoir reframes online spaces as environments that actively shape health outcomes—from mental health crises fueled by cyberbullying to telehealth gaps mirroring digital divides.
-Viral Racism as a Contagion: The book’s analysis of how hate spreads algorithmically offers a framework for public health to combat misinformation (e.g., applying epidemic modeling to “superspreader” accounts).
-Community as Counterpower: Onyebuchi’s celebration of Black digital collectives models how public health could better partner with online mutual aid networks for crisis response.
Constructive Criticism
-From Narrative to Action: While Onyebuchi’s storytelling is masterful, public health practitioners might crave more concrete strategies (e.g., how clinics could document tech-related health harms like workplace injuries).
-Global Health Lens: The U.S.-centric focus misses opportunities to explore how Global South communities navigate digital colonialism—a critical gap for health equity work.
Final Thoughts
Racebook is a gut punch and a revelation. It left me convinced that until public health treats the internet as an environmental toxin and a vital utility—regulating its poisons while expanding access to its antidotes—we’ll keep prescribing aspirin for structural wounds.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5) – A visionary, if occasionally abstract, manifesto.
Gratitude: Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the review copy. In a field that often reduces health to biology, this book demands we confront the digital ecosystems shaping lives.
Tochi Onyebuchi’s Racebook is a searing, genre-defying memoir that excavates the internet’s dual role as both a liberator and an oppressor in shaping racial identity and public health narratives. As a public health professional, I found myself oscillating between awe at Onyebuchi’s lyrical dissection of digital life and discomfort at how eerily his personal anecdotes mirrored systemic health disparities—algorithmic bias as a social determinant, viral misinformation as an epidemic, and online communities as both sanctuaries and battlegrounds.
Emotional Resonance: Between Nostalgia and Dread
Reading Racebook felt like watching an X-ray of the internet’s bones—revealing fractures we’ve learned to ignore. Onyebuchi’s recollections of early online forums triggered my own memories of HIV/AIDS advocacy groups finding solace in anonymity, only to later confront how those same spaces amplified stigma. His passages on algorithmic racism (“the digital redlining of search results”) evoked visceral parallels to clinical decision tools that perpetuate care disparities. What unsettled me most was recognizing public health’s complicity: We’ve treated “digital literacy” as a Band-Aid rather than demanding structural changes to tech’s harms.
Key Public Health Insights
-The Internet as a Social Determinant: Onyebuchi’s memoir reframes online spaces as environments that actively shape health outcomes—from mental health crises fueled by cyberbullying to telehealth gaps mirroring digital divides.
-Viral Racism as a Contagion: The book’s analysis of how hate spreads algorithmically offers a framework for public health to combat misinformation (e.g., applying epidemic modeling to “superspreader” accounts).
-Community as Counterpower: Onyebuchi’s celebration of Black digital collectives models how public health could better partner with online mutual aid networks for crisis response.
Constructive Criticism
-From Narrative to Action: While Onyebuchi’s storytelling is masterful, public health practitioners might crave more concrete strategies (e.g., how clinics could document tech-related health harms like workplace injuries).
-Global Health Lens: The U.S.-centric focus misses opportunities to explore how Global South communities navigate digital colonialism—a critical gap for health equity work.
Final Thoughts
Racebook is a gut punch and a revelation. It left me convinced that until public health treats the internet as an environmental toxin and a vital utility—regulating its poisons while expanding access to its antidotes—we’ll keep prescribing aspirin for structural wounds.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5) – A visionary, if occasionally abstract, manifesto.
Gratitude: Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the review copy. In a field that often reduces health to biology, this book demands we confront the digital ecosystems shaping lives.
Want to read
May 22, 2025I NEED THIS EXPEDITIOUSLY
November 20, 2025
This was a tough one for me. It’s a personal memoir in essays about a young Black man who leaves the U.S. after a police shooting and tries to rebuild his life in Paris. There’s a lot here about identity, trauma, art, diaspora, and the weight of being Black in America no matter where you run. All of that is compelling on its own.
But then the writing style just…was a struggle. And the endless video game talk.
I sent this message to a fellow bookish friend, “You ever read a book by an intellectual and think you are either dumber than you think you are or they are trying too hard to sound overly smart? 🥴” because that’s the vibe I struggled with throughout the entire book
There are some genuinely “Ooh, that’s a good one” lines, but they’re mixed in with stretches of prose so dense it pulls you out of the narrative.
So this ends up as a 3-star read for me. Interesting, thoughtful, and ambitious… but also trying a little too hard to sound profound when the story itself was strong enough without all the extra verbiage and stretched vocabulary.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
But then the writing style just…was a struggle. And the endless video game talk.
I sent this message to a fellow bookish friend, “You ever read a book by an intellectual and think you are either dumber than you think you are or they are trying too hard to sound overly smart? 🥴” because that’s the vibe I struggled with throughout the entire book
There are some genuinely “Ooh, that’s a good one” lines, but they’re mixed in with stretches of prose so dense it pulls you out of the narrative.
So this ends up as a 3-star read for me. Interesting, thoughtful, and ambitious… but also trying a little too hard to sound profound when the story itself was strong enough without all the extra verbiage and stretched vocabulary.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
did-not-finish
October 30, 2025Audiobook DNFed at 18%. While I was interested in reading about Onyebuchi's thoughts on the changing role that the Internet has played in our society and individual vs collective identities, I have to admit defeat and state that his writing style is not for me.
Onyebuchi is clearly a talented writer, and the writing in RACEBOOK is similar to that that I've seen in publications such as The Atlantic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, etc. But, often, he seems so enamored with the cleverness of his craft and style, so hyper-focused on writing sentences and descriptions that have never before been written in the history of the world, that he hasn't stopped to consider whether the sentence should be written or not. The example that stopped me in my tracks was him describing the terrorists of 6th January 2021 as "making the inside of the White House look like a Slipknot [...] music video." Ummmmm, excuse me??
If you read that sentence and don't see what's problematic about it, when I was 13 years old I once wrote for a school assignment that the World Trade Towers "pancaked" during 9/11. I would never describe 9/11 using that verb now. Similarly, I cringe and do a double-take whenever writers in Western media describe the Palestinian genocide using verbs like "vaporized" (looking at you, Omar El Akkad).
There were/are real people behind these events, and most of us are fortunate only by luck of birth not to experience these events firsthand. Writing about 6th January, 9/11, and/or the Palestinian genocide in using such glib descriptors reads as a failure in respect or empathy.
Onyebuchi is clearly a talented writer, and the writing in RACEBOOK is similar to that that I've seen in publications such as The Atlantic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, etc. But, often, he seems so enamored with the cleverness of his craft and style, so hyper-focused on writing sentences and descriptions that have never before been written in the history of the world, that he hasn't stopped to consider whether the sentence should be written or not. The example that stopped me in my tracks was him describing the terrorists of 6th January 2021 as "making the inside of the White House look like a Slipknot [...] music video." Ummmmm, excuse me??
If you read that sentence and don't see what's problematic about it, when I was 13 years old I once wrote for a school assignment that the World Trade Towers "pancaked" during 9/11. I would never describe 9/11 using that verb now. Similarly, I cringe and do a double-take whenever writers in Western media describe the Palestinian genocide using verbs like "vaporized" (looking at you, Omar El Akkad).
There were/are real people behind these events, and most of us are fortunate only by luck of birth not to experience these events firsthand. Writing about 6th January, 9/11, and/or the Palestinian genocide in using such glib descriptors reads as a failure in respect or empathy.
October 1, 2025
In his striking memoir-in-essays, Racebook, Tochi Onyebuchi dissects the complex relationship between the internet, race, and identity. Moving in reverse chronological order, Onyebuchi traces his online journey from the commodified digital landscape of today back to the promises of Web 1.0 in the late 1990s and early 2000s. With an incisive and personal eye, he explores how his racial presence was defined and shifted in these online spaces.
Onyebuchi masterfully blends personal history with sharp cultural criticism, examining the digital world's impact on our inner lives. He interrogates how the internet, with its promises of connection, has evolved into a system where everything, including identity, is for sale. As acclaimed author Kiese Laymon notes, Onyebuchi’s writing is "absolutely singular" in how it explores the intersection of the internet and the Black experience. Racebook is a provocative and necessary work that challenges readers to re-examine their own relationship with technology and how it shapes who we are. It’s a riotous, thoughtful, and beautifully executed critique that demands our undivided attention.
Onyebuchi masterfully blends personal history with sharp cultural criticism, examining the digital world's impact on our inner lives. He interrogates how the internet, with its promises of connection, has evolved into a system where everything, including identity, is for sale. As acclaimed author Kiese Laymon notes, Onyebuchi’s writing is "absolutely singular" in how it explores the intersection of the internet and the Black experience. Racebook is a provocative and necessary work that challenges readers to re-examine their own relationship with technology and how it shapes who we are. It’s a riotous, thoughtful, and beautifully executed critique that demands our undivided attention.
November 27, 2025
Although I would not consider myself chronically online, I would identify as chronically obsessive. I remember what it was like to pirate otherwise totally inaccessible content from other countries, to watch shows, read books, all lovingly translated by fans of the work to share with others. The development of online games; Neopets, Webkinz, early Poptropica. This memoir is more focused on the console-based experience that I saw others of my generation have, and is as valid and memorable an experience as mine.
It is unfortunate, then, to say that this style of writing did not quite click. The focus on Pokemon Go, and references to essays I have never heard of made it difficult to follow until the later half of the book. Until, truly, the last two chapters of it.
That being said, I'm sure others would find value in this work, particularly of the late 90s early 2000s, or whom picked up gaming during COVID.
It is unfortunate, then, to say that this style of writing did not quite click. The focus on Pokemon Go, and references to essays I have never heard of made it difficult to follow until the later half of the book. Until, truly, the last two chapters of it.
That being said, I'm sure others would find value in this work, particularly of the late 90s early 2000s, or whom picked up gaming during COVID.
October 28, 2025
This dense, fascinating book is a collection of personal essays exploring - broadly - the internet, but also themes of politics, race, gaming, books, history and more. Tochi Onyebuchi has lived a LIFE, travelled extensively and we read about so many interesting experiences through his memories of jobs overseas, sometimes in places of conflict and danger.
It has to be said that Onyebuchi is way smarter than I am, and I felt in over my head sometimes here, but gosh - if you are a cerebral person with a social conscience who loves to game, you may want to inject this book into your veins.
As for myself I’ve appreciated the chance to broaden my perspective and my brain capacity for the time spent in these pages, and look forward to reading some of the authors fiction now, with this book as an extra layer to the experience.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital arc!
It has to be said that Onyebuchi is way smarter than I am, and I felt in over my head sometimes here, but gosh - if you are a cerebral person with a social conscience who loves to game, you may want to inject this book into your veins.
As for myself I’ve appreciated the chance to broaden my perspective and my brain capacity for the time spent in these pages, and look forward to reading some of the authors fiction now, with this book as an extra layer to the experience.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital arc!
October 31, 2025
i must say, i really enjoyed this!! it's a sharp and fascinating essay collection about the internet and what it means to live, write, and exist online. so much ground is covered here—race, politics, gaming, content moderation, writing communities, and the way the internet has shifted from those early AIM days to the chaotic, commercialized version we have now.
the writing is dense in the best way, sometimes reading like poetry, and every essay feels deeply considered. you can tell he’s someone who’s actually lived through all of it, from the hopeful promise of web 1.0 to the messy realities of the present.
i really appreciated how he balances nostalgia with critique. he remembers how fun and full of possibility the early internet felt but doesn’t shy away from how harmful and exhausting it can be now. i especially loved his essays about gaming, the last of us, and even why he avoids call of duty lobbies—they were funny and personal. highly recommend this!
the writing is dense in the best way, sometimes reading like poetry, and every essay feels deeply considered. you can tell he’s someone who’s actually lived through all of it, from the hopeful promise of web 1.0 to the messy realities of the present.
i really appreciated how he balances nostalgia with critique. he remembers how fun and full of possibility the early internet felt but doesn’t shy away from how harmful and exhausting it can be now. i especially loved his essays about gaming, the last of us, and even why he avoids call of duty lobbies—they were funny and personal. highly recommend this!
December 1, 2025
Searing and compelling, Racebook is a critical analysis of a life spent online and Tochi Onyebuchi's own relationship with it as a Black man. It reads more like a work of literary criticism, except the text is the internet. Your mileage on this may vary depending on how chronically online you are (or were, in my case), but the essays range from gut-punches to utterly delightful. "Deus in Machina" is one of the funnier things I have read this year, while also being deeply insightful. This speaks to us as we are, and how we were.
Also, if I hadn't borrowed this from the library, I would have underlined the following passage: "In the face of an Aggressive Menace dripping with contempt for your humanity and wishing, when it cannot exploit you, to punish you, to terrorize and torment you, what use is hope?"
Also, if I hadn't borrowed this from the library, I would have underlined the following passage: "In the face of an Aggressive Menace dripping with contempt for your humanity and wishing, when it cannot exploit you, to punish you, to terrorize and torment you, what use is hope?"
August 23, 2025
Can’t believe this is Tochi Onyebuchi’s first essay collection, because like his SFF books, these cause the reader to pause and think. These essays are the intersection and interrogation of the internet with his own identity, as a gamer, writer and anime geek (not necessarily in that order). And, the question becomes, is this a book about race or not. And, it’s not a binary. The bottom line is that Onyebuchi contains multitudes and one of which, is he is a skilled essayist.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
December 23, 2025
Very intellectually stimulating; Onyebuchi writes in a captivating way that feels like a wordsmith doing what he excels at. Some essays were fascinating and relatable, but for as many as were relatable there were many that felt very niche. There is a lot of video game talk here, which I'm not super versed in. I think the only way this could've connected better is if it was more feelings-focused. Often when I read memoirs I don't have to know much about the topic, I just have to feel emotions the author is sifting through. This book just needed a little bit more of that for me.
Read
December 13, 2025Really good combination of thought provoking and funny essays. I would recommend for anyone who has a really good memory of the 90s and 2000s, and the early stages of the internet. Some of that early internet stuff did go over my head.
I had heard him read a couple of these essays in person and I immediately put the book on my tbr. It was great to revisit the essays I had already enjoyed, but they were even better in the full context of the collection.
I had heard him read a couple of these essays in person and I immediately put the book on my tbr. It was great to revisit the essays I had already enjoyed, but they were even better in the full context of the collection.
November 3, 2025
I found this to be a fascinating collection of personal essays focusing on the internet and how politics, race, world events, entertainment, history, and more influence how one interacts with the internet. There were just some parts that the writing did not work for me, but overall, this was an incredibly insightful and moving read.
November 8, 2025
wow. damn. I've been familiar with this author's name but his other works seemed more like hard sci-fi than my general interests but I might need to reevaluate that stance. This book was like a puzzle feeder for my brain as I carefully gnawed my way through the individual essays. Really gorgeous sentence level writing, excellent analysis and fun nerdy-millennial memoir bits.
July 1, 2025
Onyebuchi gives us a great combination of memoir, cultural criticism, and period specific reflection, ranging from Ghost in the Shell to german vocabulary about memory to Mario Maker to the black writer's duty in times of unrest to the nightmare hellscape that corporations are trying to position as the future of the internet. Great read, and highly recommended this fall.
July 9, 2025
Thank you to Roxane Gay Books for an advance copy!
September 21, 2025
I liked that the Author compared his start in writing and the beginning of the Internet. Captivating read.
October 7, 2025
interesting set of essays with some awesome writing styles in there. I was surprised at the game focus, but it worked. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.
September 4, 2025
onyebuchi is a nerd- like really nerdy! and i love that! i didn't really know much about onyebuchi prior to reading this book, but i knew that when i read riot baby, now a few years ago, that this was an author i was keenly interested in. his interests are broad in scope- from gaming to the german language. his experiences as a law student, and someone highly engaged in current events and global politics makes for many fascinating connections between the online landscape and the way this has created or molded various identities. this was an ambitious, unique memoir that kept me thinking and has only grown my interest in learning more about onyebuchi and reading more of his fiction/nonfiction.
*thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the eARC*
*thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the eARC*
October 13, 2025
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Racebook explores the internet through Onyebuchi’s personal experiences. The main theme running throughout this book is the responsibility of black writers and Onyebuchi questions if he has backed himself into a corner by being the Race Writer. This book is a series of essays, one of which discusses the early internet’s promise of equality. Internet culture is discussed particularly when it comes to race but also the idea that when we are on the internet we are performing. This doesn’t just discuss the internet though as gaming is also examined in this.
This was a phenomenal essay collection on race and the internet. I loved every single essay but I found the section on content moderation to be the most impactful alongside the discussion on virtual reality. This was an enjoyable read and this author’s writing reminded me of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Hanif Kureishi. This was so good, I’ll be recommending this essay collection and I can’t wait to but a physical copy of this when it releases. I definitely haven’t done this book justice with my review but I urge everyone to read this. It’s truly compelling.
Favourite quote - “You either die an inoffensive Black man or live long enough to be the guy who posts Black shit.”
Racebook explores the internet through Onyebuchi’s personal experiences. The main theme running throughout this book is the responsibility of black writers and Onyebuchi questions if he has backed himself into a corner by being the Race Writer. This book is a series of essays, one of which discusses the early internet’s promise of equality. Internet culture is discussed particularly when it comes to race but also the idea that when we are on the internet we are performing. This doesn’t just discuss the internet though as gaming is also examined in this.
This was a phenomenal essay collection on race and the internet. I loved every single essay but I found the section on content moderation to be the most impactful alongside the discussion on virtual reality. This was an enjoyable read and this author’s writing reminded me of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Hanif Kureishi. This was so good, I’ll be recommending this essay collection and I can’t wait to but a physical copy of this when it releases. I definitely haven’t done this book justice with my review but I urge everyone to read this. It’s truly compelling.
Favourite quote - “You either die an inoffensive Black man or live long enough to be the guy who posts Black shit.”
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews