Twisted

by Bert Ashe, Mirron Willis (Reader)

In My Dreadlock Chronicles , professor and author Bert Ashe delivers a witty, fascinating, and unprecedented account of black male identity as seen through our culture's perceptions of hair. It is a deeply personal story that weaves together the cultural and political history of dreadlocks with Ashe's own midlife journey to lock his hair. Ashe is a fresh, new voice that addresses the importance of black hair in the 20th and 21st centuries through an accessible, humorous, and literary style sure to engage a wide variety of listeners. After leading a far-too-conventional life for 40 years, Ashe began a long, arduous, uncertain process of locking his own hair in an attempt to step out of American convention. Black hair, after all, matters. Few Americans are subject to snap judgments like those in the African-American community, and fewer communities face such loaded criticism about their appearances, in particular their hair. My Dreadlock Chronicles makes the argument that the story of dreadlocks in America can't be told except in front of the backdrop of black hair in America. Ask most Americans about dreadlocks and they immediately conjure a picture of Bob onstage, midsong, dreads splayed. When most Americans see dreadlocks, a range of assumptions quickly He's Jamaican, he's Rasta, he plays reggae; he stinks, he smokes, he deals; he's bohemian, he's creative, he's countercultural. Few styles in America have more symbolism and generate more conflicting views than dreadlocks. To "read" dreadlocks is to take the cultural pulse of America. To listen to My Dreadlock Chronicles is to understand a larger story about the truths and biases present in how we perceive ourselves and others. Ashe's riveting and intimate work, a genuine first of its kind, will be a seminal work for years to come.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, African American

MP3 CD

First published March 10, 2015

Reviews

[Patricia Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book-length lyric essay, Bert Ashe's TWISTED: MY DREADLOCK CHRONICLES recounts Ashe's fascination with and desire for growing dreads in addition to exploring the history of dreadlocks and their role in American pop culture. The structure of the book imitates the hairstyle it examines, intertwining the various strands of memoir, sociological study, history, and social commentary. It is as much a frank discussion of race and hair and racial attitudes towards hair as it is about one specific African American man's long fascination with a hairstyle and what choosing that hairstyle means for his self-identity. The book is as enjoyable as it is informative -- always interesting and engaging, and at times downright playful and funny.

I loved it. Highly recommend it.

[Melody Moezzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Bert Ashe is funny, smart and insightful. I highly recommend this book!

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another book that was not what I thought it would be. We've all heard stories of people randomly touching other people's hair. Of the TSA wanting to comb through Solange Knowles's (sister of Beyonce) hair. Years ago a friend of mine randomly asked me if I touched our other friend's hair. The other friend was a black man, and I remember giving the first friend a look of disbelief. What was she thinking??? No, why would I touch his hair? I thoroughly enjoy my personal space, don't care for touching people/touching other people and still don't know how or why she decided to be interested in his hair.
 
While our friend did not have dreadlocks, I was still fascinated by the topic. I know very little about dreadlocks and it would be a fascinating topic to educate myself on.When I was in grade school, a well-known white student came to school with what appeared to be short dreadlocks. Aside from the issues of appropriation, it looked terrible on him and people talked. I wondered what his interest in getting dreadlocks and hearing about this book brought back that memory.
 
Unfortunately, this book isn't what I thought it would be. I had hoped it would be a history of dreadlocks, or why the author chose to wear them or something like that. And it is, but it's peppered throughout these essays that are really confusing when read together. We jump back and forth through time, discuss Whoppi Goldberg, its connections to Bob Marley and Rastafarians,  how his family reacted, what the process of getting dreadlocks looks like.
 
Some of this was really interesting. Ashe says that Goldberg was the first person who really brought dreadlocks to the "mainstream." I learned a bit more about Bob Marley and the decision he took to wear them. There was interesting information about Rastafarians.
 
But the book was a SLOG. I wanted to give up after the first few chapters because the author seemed to be all over the place. He seemed to settle down after a bit, but the rest of the book was still very tough to get through, and it's not thick. There are references to books, Spike Lee movies, thinkers, etc. that I honestly got lost in. I realize I couldn't ask for a 101 basic primer, and that this isn't necessarily meant to serve as an academic, educational textbook. But I wasn't sure what the reader was supposed to get out of it.
 
I'm sure there are others who will get a lot more out of it than I. But I'm glad I decided to borrow this from the library instead of purchasing it.

[Maryalene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never felt so white as I did when reading this book. So much hand-wringing over a hair style! While the author did try to explain the history and meaning behind dreadlocks, the book simply didn't resonate with me. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around why there would be so much internal drama over hair.

That said, I am probably not the target audience and others who can relate to the author's quandary about if and when to don dreads may enjoy the book more.

As other reviewers have mentioned the structure of the book feels a bit disconnected, and that is ultimately what led me to abandon it. I didn't get it done before it was due back at the library and decided it wasn't worth paying library fines.

Since I didn't finish it (therefore not giving it a chance to redeem itself) and in deference to the fact that perhaps other readers might relate to the topic more than I did, I'm giving it 3 stars. I think this could be a good read for some people, but it just wasn't for me.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dreadlocks often elicit strong opinions and reactions. I've monitored each time it's happened in my presence. Bert Ashe telling his truth and the surprising history and depth of dreads allowed me to compare it with the ongoing myths. It's not just about the hair.

Ashe's content and style of writing, leaning toward eccentric, is witty, enlightening, and heartwarming, too. The astute and sophisticated reader will appreciate and/or acknowledge his talent. (I'm claiming a smidgen of these qualities.)

An English professor at a prestigious university and probable non-conformist, his is a welcome contribution to literature and to the rising wave of people who believe that "black people hair" does not need to be fixed.

[BookloverEO · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Ashe pulls off a great interwoven narrative, bringing together his personal experience getting dreadlocks with discussions that range from Ralph Ellison to clothing styles to suburbia, to what Ashe calls “the Pure,” and much more. The writing is brilliant and often hilarious. The narrative, as he points out, becomes like a massive dreadlock, weaving together overlapping strands of race, politics, gender, and culture. Twisted is American cultural history at its very best.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have so many thoughts to collect and get down properly, but for now I needed to say that TWISTED is an engaging, culturally tangled, and fascinating peek into one black man's journey into a "head of dread"locks, and what it all means, exactly. If memoirs, hair, or cultural complications are your thing, you need to pick this up. I read it twice through on a recent flight and filled the margins with notes that I can't wait to sit down and think through further.

[Teri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Screw this. Thought I was going to read a rich, cultural history about dreadlocks and this man's journey to grow them. Story had no order/organization. Seemed totally random and inconsequential. Blah, blah, blah. Bore, bore, bore.

[Justus Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Review first published in Shelf Awareness)

Twisted is part memoir, part history and part cultural critique. Bert Ashe (From Within the Frame), associate professor of English at the University of Richmond in Virginia, takes readers on a personal journey through his desire to grow dreadlocks, while investigating what they mean in American culture. Ashe focused on dreads for reasons that would take him decades to understand fully, but he feared that he would undermine the power of this distinct hairstyle. Would he be able to keep its "expansive, multilevel cultural resonance" or was he too conservative?

People project onto dreadlocks an assortment of cultural and historic biases and prejudices, and for some, the act of growing them becomes a kind of performance piece--a public presentation and platform of associated political ideologies. Ashe's tension is rooted in a sense of separate authentic selves: the responsible, mainstream black scholar whose life experiences fit the white American mold, and the radical intellectual who questions authority and takes pride in his identity as a black man. Through the exploration of dreadlocks, Ashe navigates race in what he calls "post-integration" United States. Dreadlocks are a counter to assimilation--permission to escape from white society.

This book is a personal stand, an anthem and a love song to dreadlocks. Ashe's story is one of yearning written with poetic frankness. Twisted aims to unsettle, discomfit and ultimately strip readers of previously held convictions. Ashe has a delightful, sometimes dark sense of humor, an academic's intimate curiosity and an obsessive's focus, all of which combine to make Twisted a joy to read.

[Kymon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Twisted" is a wonderful book. In it, Bert Ashe talks about the process one goes through when fully committed to growing dreadlocks, which includes everyday encounters with private mirrors, and public perceptions. The journey one takes to dreadlocks is a story within it's self. All in all, this book was a joy to read.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable confluence of memoir, cultural history, and polemic here, as Ashe uses the example of his own choices around hair and style to examine the meaning of black hair and the disproportionate scrutiny of black subjects in contemporary America.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learn about locks from a Black men's perspective. Interesting, funny and thought provoking. Well worth the time to read.

[Maggi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisted is a remarkable hybrid of memoir, social history and cultural commentary. I learned so much while being thoroughly entertained!

[Emmett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is all over the place. Don’t think the author knows what he wants or where to place dreads in an historical perspective.