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Busted in New York and Other Essays
A collection of essays that blend the personal and the social, from the celebrated literary critic and novelist
In these twenty-five essays, Darryl Pinckney has given us a view of our recent racial history that blends the social and the personal and wonders how we arrived at our current moment. Pinckney reminds us that “white supremacy isn’t back; it never went away.” It is this impulse to see historically that is at the core of Busted in New York and Other Essays , which traces the lineage of black intellectual history from Booker T. Washington through the Harlem Renaissance, to the Black Panther Party and the turbulent sixties, to today’s Afro-pessimists, and celebrated and neglected thinkers in between.
These are capacious essays whose topics range from the grassroots of protest in Ferguson, Missouri, to the eighteenth-century Guadeloupian composer Joseph Bologne, from an unsparing portrait of Louis Farrakhan to the enduring legacy of James Baldwin, the unexpected story of black people experiencing Russia, Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight , and the painter Kara Walker. The essays themselves are a kind of record, many of them written in real-time, as Pinckney witnesses the Million Man March, feels and experiences the highs and lows of Obama’s first presidential campaign, explores the literary black diaspora, and reflects on the surprising and severe lesson he learned firsthand about the changing urban fabric of New York.
As Zadie Smith writes in her introduction to the book: “How lucky we are to have Darryl Pinckney who, without rancor, without insult, has, all these years, been taking down our various songs, examining them with love and care, and bringing them back from the past, like a Sankofa bird, for our present examination. These days Sankofas like Darryl are rare. Treasure him!”
In these twenty-five essays, Darryl Pinckney has given us a view of our recent racial history that blends the social and the personal and wonders how we arrived at our current moment. Pinckney reminds us that “white supremacy isn’t back; it never went away.” It is this impulse to see historically that is at the core of Busted in New York and Other Essays , which traces the lineage of black intellectual history from Booker T. Washington through the Harlem Renaissance, to the Black Panther Party and the turbulent sixties, to today’s Afro-pessimists, and celebrated and neglected thinkers in between.
These are capacious essays whose topics range from the grassroots of protest in Ferguson, Missouri, to the eighteenth-century Guadeloupian composer Joseph Bologne, from an unsparing portrait of Louis Farrakhan to the enduring legacy of James Baldwin, the unexpected story of black people experiencing Russia, Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight , and the painter Kara Walker. The essays themselves are a kind of record, many of them written in real-time, as Pinckney witnesses the Million Man March, feels and experiences the highs and lows of Obama’s first presidential campaign, explores the literary black diaspora, and reflects on the surprising and severe lesson he learned firsthand about the changing urban fabric of New York.
As Zadie Smith writes in her introduction to the book: “How lucky we are to have Darryl Pinckney who, without rancor, without insult, has, all these years, been taking down our various songs, examining them with love and care, and bringing them back from the past, like a Sankofa bird, for our present examination. These days Sankofas like Darryl are rare. Treasure him!”
416 pages, Hardcover
First published November 12, 2019
26 people are currently reading
653 people want to read
About the author
Darryl Pinckney
31 books63 followersDarryl Pinckney is an American novelist, playwright, and essayist.
Pinckney grew up in a middle-class African-American family in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he attended local public schools. He was educated at Columbia University in New York.
Pinckney grew up in a middle-class African-American family in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he attended local public schools. He was educated at Columbia University in New York.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 13, 2020
My appreciation varied widely in this collection of 25 short essays. The first essay seemed like it was going be about his experience at the Million Man March but instead veered off to become a rambling history of Nation of Islam, most of which I already knew. Maybe that’s why it lacked luster for me. Many of these essays were simply recountings of things I experienced, too.
I found the title essay Busted in New York, an interesting story about getting busted for a tiny roach by a white police officer. Made me mad, especially when laws have changed so much now.
The political pieces about Bush and Obama were tired and worn out. I scoffed at the essay on Black Lives and Police. 12 pages could do no justice to the crisis here.
I did not start to enjoy the essays until the latter part of the book: Gentrification of Harlem, a piece about the art of famed Black painter Kara Walker, more summary than critique of two of my favorite movies “Selma” and “Moonlight”. And I enjoyed his essay on I Am Not Your Negro, a documentary by one of my favorite directors, Raoul Peck (Haitian). And of course I agreed with his homage to the late great Aretha Franklin.
I found the title essay Busted in New York, an interesting story about getting busted for a tiny roach by a white police officer. Made me mad, especially when laws have changed so much now.
The political pieces about Bush and Obama were tired and worn out. I scoffed at the essay on Black Lives and Police. 12 pages could do no justice to the crisis here.
I did not start to enjoy the essays until the latter part of the book: Gentrification of Harlem, a piece about the art of famed Black painter Kara Walker, more summary than critique of two of my favorite movies “Selma” and “Moonlight”. And I enjoyed his essay on I Am Not Your Negro, a documentary by one of my favorite directors, Raoul Peck (Haitian). And of course I agreed with his homage to the late great Aretha Franklin.
June 26, 2022
WOW. the scope of this book is INCREDIBLY broad, and yet not even the smallest of dots go unconnected. spanning periods of times and genres alike (with topics ranging from politics to film to art to religion to music to literary drama police brutality and back, always back) while building one comprehensive, interconnected web of everything. i learned SO much (about history, about relationships and inspirations and opposites and culture and protest and and and) enjoyed EVERY second of it
my favorite essays:
-pilot me
-paris: the black maestro
-busted in new york
-what he really said
-invisible black america
-in ferguson
my favorite essays:
-pilot me
-paris: the black maestro
-busted in new york
-what he really said
-invisible black america
-in ferguson
April 30, 2020
A black professor once told me, the history of black diaspora struggle can be somewhat symbolised with a blood diamond. At once beautifully rich, multifaceted and resistant, now historically obfuscated through deracination and continued exploitation.
In this collection of essays, Darryl Pickney brings his multi-generational vantage point, adroit historicisation and erudite voice to bear, in an attempt to re-present the past, infer progress and if not to put forward a utopian future, then at least reject a pessimistic one.
As Zadie Smith says in her Foreword:
The 25 essays included in this generous collection have great range and depth, whether the subject is Katrina (reportage), Aretha Franklin (biography/homage) or Moonlight (film criticism), Pickney proves to be a penman of remarkable versatility. He is like that one intelligent uncle who when questioned about something, will take you on a verbal voyage through curated references and obscure stories only to arrive at more questions. But it’s mostly worth it unless you’re expecting spoon-fed answers to age-old questions.
Personally what makes this book different to other similar African American books/essay collections I have read thus far, is the acknowledgement and treatment of class, privilege and indignity.
Pickney who grew up in a black bourgeoise environment, admits he felt somewhat exempt/protected from ongoing racial struggles as a youth. It wasn’t long before events started to impinge on his consciousness, allowing him to experience the imbedded hierarchy of Black struggle. Amongst various illuminating examples, a personal one stands out; during one encounter while hiding in the chaotic Ferguson demonstrations, we see that race and class are forever intertwined and pervasive;
He doesn’t answer. Throughout the book you get the sense that he wants to avoid finger-pointing, preferring to take a tangential path. This to me is not just a stylistic choice but one that is probably about self-preservation. I mean who am I to judge a gay African American in taking this stance?
The personal side that he does seem to share is paradoxically non-revelatory. Something not all authors can achieve. For Pickney it’s a ‘passing’ tool, he even alludes to this dualism in his relationship with his parents:
Another fascinating highlight was his various sections about the black émigré tradition (of Claude McKay, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin) and his own sojourn in Europe. In doing so he dismissed Black America’s resentment at the time that emigration was an individual solution, not a mass solution. Despite his early belief in individualism he later concedes that:
In some ways, this book is the epitome of this paradox; it's seemingly created by one individual, yet the multiplicity of thoughts, experiences and writings presented, point to an undeniable collaborative conception. Thus, we have the diamond that is the African American.
In this collection of essays, Darryl Pickney brings his multi-generational vantage point, adroit historicisation and erudite voice to bear, in an attempt to re-present the past, infer progress and if not to put forward a utopian future, then at least reject a pessimistic one.
As Zadie Smith says in her Foreword:
“Respect for the history of the struggle is not erasure of the difficult present, and recognition of progress within it need not be interpreted as either capitulation or weakness...There’s more than one way to be militant.”
The 25 essays included in this generous collection have great range and depth, whether the subject is Katrina (reportage), Aretha Franklin (biography/homage) or Moonlight (film criticism), Pickney proves to be a penman of remarkable versatility. He is like that one intelligent uncle who when questioned about something, will take you on a verbal voyage through curated references and obscure stories only to arrive at more questions. But it’s mostly worth it unless you’re expecting spoon-fed answers to age-old questions.
Personally what makes this book different to other similar African American books/essay collections I have read thus far, is the acknowledgement and treatment of class, privilege and indignity.
Pickney who grew up in a black bourgeoise environment, admits he felt somewhat exempt/protected from ongoing racial struggles as a youth. It wasn’t long before events started to impinge on his consciousness, allowing him to experience the imbedded hierarchy of Black struggle. Amongst various illuminating examples, a personal one stands out; during one encounter while hiding in the chaotic Ferguson demonstrations, we see that race and class are forever intertwined and pervasive;
“I had to ask myself, not for the first time, when did I become afraid of black youth? How had I, a black man internalised white fear?”
He doesn’t answer. Throughout the book you get the sense that he wants to avoid finger-pointing, preferring to take a tangential path. This to me is not just a stylistic choice but one that is probably about self-preservation. I mean who am I to judge a gay African American in taking this stance?
The personal side that he does seem to share is paradoxically non-revelatory. Something not all authors can achieve. For Pickney it’s a ‘passing’ tool, he even alludes to this dualism in his relationship with his parents:
“To talk about things black at home was a way of not talking about myself while seeming to. I used my being black as a way to hide from my black family”
Another fascinating highlight was his various sections about the black émigré tradition (of Claude McKay, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin) and his own sojourn in Europe. In doing so he dismissed Black America’s resentment at the time that emigration was an individual solution, not a mass solution. Despite his early belief in individualism he later concedes that:
“Black life is about the group, and even if we tell ourselves that we don’t care anymore that America glorifies the individual in order to disguise what is really happening, this remains a fundamental paradox in the organisation of everyday life for a black person. Your head is not a safe space”
In some ways, this book is the epitome of this paradox; it's seemingly created by one individual, yet the multiplicity of thoughts, experiences and writings presented, point to an undeniable collaborative conception. Thus, we have the diamond that is the African American.
November 12, 2019
These essays are really thought-provoking, especially for those of us that have not had these experiences. I am going to recommend this to my Myth of Race professor, as I really feel like it should be required reading for that class. Thank you to the author for writing such a great book!
July 7, 2020
IQ "Black life is about the group, and even if we tell ourselves that we don't care anymore that America glorifies the individual in order to disguise what is really happening, this remains a fundamental paradox in the organization of everyday life for a black person. Your head is not a safe space." ('The Afro-Pessimist Temptation', 224)
By now I know enough to associate Darryl Pinckney's name with the Black bourgeois. As the scion of upper middle Black parents, he is perfectly positioned to point out many of the intersections between race and class. He is also willing to call out the Black elite, in one line, “There are worse things than not having one’s high social status acknowledged by whites," he eloquently sums up all the outrage about Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr being denied entry to his own home by a white police officer. Much of that disbelieving outrage was class-based. In the grand scheme of things it was utterly inconsequential but I think Pinckney is astute in noting that this bothered rich Black people more than any other group in his 'Invisible Black America' essay. It struck me as internalized racism that is still very much present today. Many of these essays continue to draw upon the intersection of race and class and it's a thread that Pinckney expertly follows throughout the book.
The essays are ambitious in timeline and scope, a few that focus on the Bush years feel outdated. But ultimately I was pleasantly surprised at the historical depth and breadth of these stories. It is clear that he is a student of (Black) history and wonderfully well-read. Through his reporting in particular I felt like I was witnessing history as he details reporting trips about the Million Man March, Hurricane Katrina and Ferugson in 2014. I found his most interesting essay to be 'The Afro-Pessimist Temptation' even if I didn't agree with his argument regarding Ta-Nehisi Coates' work. There is also an emphasis on Baldwin, the comparison between Pinckney and Baldwin are easily drawn, both gay Black men who lived in Europe for some time and are considered public intellectuals. Pinckney succinctly sums up the appeal of Baldwin, "At the core of his [Baldwin] message was always the assertion that there was no Negro problem; there was the problem of white people not being able to see themselves, to take responsibility for their history, and to ask themselves why they needed to invent 'the nigger'" ('Under the Spell of James Baldwin, 369).
BUSTED IN NEW YORK AND OTHER ESSAYS is an honest, wide-ranging and knowledgable collection of essays combined with notable reporting features. The essays focus on Baldwin, faith, family, literary criticism, politics and being a Black person abroad. There is a sense of melancholy in all the essays as Pinckney repeatedly brings up his parents, to me it read as poignant and sad because he mentions that his entire family has passed away. But it's clear that his family had high expectations and influenced much of how he views the world through lessons his parents taught him consciously and unconsciously. 'Busted in New York' and 'Invisible Black America' were my favorite essays but this strikes me as a collection where your favorite essays might change with each re-read.
By now I know enough to associate Darryl Pinckney's name with the Black bourgeois. As the scion of upper middle Black parents, he is perfectly positioned to point out many of the intersections between race and class. He is also willing to call out the Black elite, in one line, “There are worse things than not having one’s high social status acknowledged by whites," he eloquently sums up all the outrage about Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr being denied entry to his own home by a white police officer. Much of that disbelieving outrage was class-based. In the grand scheme of things it was utterly inconsequential but I think Pinckney is astute in noting that this bothered rich Black people more than any other group in his 'Invisible Black America' essay. It struck me as internalized racism that is still very much present today. Many of these essays continue to draw upon the intersection of race and class and it's a thread that Pinckney expertly follows throughout the book.
The essays are ambitious in timeline and scope, a few that focus on the Bush years feel outdated. But ultimately I was pleasantly surprised at the historical depth and breadth of these stories. It is clear that he is a student of (Black) history and wonderfully well-read. Through his reporting in particular I felt like I was witnessing history as he details reporting trips about the Million Man March, Hurricane Katrina and Ferugson in 2014. I found his most interesting essay to be 'The Afro-Pessimist Temptation' even if I didn't agree with his argument regarding Ta-Nehisi Coates' work. There is also an emphasis on Baldwin, the comparison between Pinckney and Baldwin are easily drawn, both gay Black men who lived in Europe for some time and are considered public intellectuals. Pinckney succinctly sums up the appeal of Baldwin, "At the core of his [Baldwin] message was always the assertion that there was no Negro problem; there was the problem of white people not being able to see themselves, to take responsibility for their history, and to ask themselves why they needed to invent 'the nigger'" ('Under the Spell of James Baldwin, 369).
BUSTED IN NEW YORK AND OTHER ESSAYS is an honest, wide-ranging and knowledgable collection of essays combined with notable reporting features. The essays focus on Baldwin, faith, family, literary criticism, politics and being a Black person abroad. There is a sense of melancholy in all the essays as Pinckney repeatedly brings up his parents, to me it read as poignant and sad because he mentions that his entire family has passed away. But it's clear that his family had high expectations and influenced much of how he views the world through lessons his parents taught him consciously and unconsciously. 'Busted in New York' and 'Invisible Black America' were my favorite essays but this strikes me as a collection where your favorite essays might change with each re-read.
September 19, 2020
A mixed collection of essays. The writing is constantly first rate, but for a collection the subjects are not always interesting enough to carry 10-20 pages. Perhaps it’s eclectic enough to cover interest for a wide swath of the public, but there were a few essays where I was left counting down the pages until it was done, not something that one wants out of an essay.
Pinckney recognizes a few times that he is no longer part of the new generation of “x” (protesters, musical enthusiasts, etc.) and is sometimes out of touch with certain things. He, recognizably, is one of the old heads of which he frequently speaks, and can sometimes come off as disconnected with modern protests, especially. Though he is no less aware that’s these things occur. In his essay on the post-Michael Brown Ferguson protests and subsequent police-incited violence he finds himself hiding from the police aggression and noticing a couple of black youth making their way across the parking lot where he is, and writes about his immediate reaction of being scared of them. He ponders when it was in his life that he so internalized the racism of systemic white supremacy that he would react this way? This is the most blunt and insightful moment in this collection, leaving me wanting more insight of this nature throughout.
All but three of these essays were written for “The New York Review of Books” and the approach and style are one with them. Personally that leaves me wanting, but perhaps for others this style is more appreciated.
Pinckney recognizes a few times that he is no longer part of the new generation of “x” (protesters, musical enthusiasts, etc.) and is sometimes out of touch with certain things. He, recognizably, is one of the old heads of which he frequently speaks, and can sometimes come off as disconnected with modern protests, especially. Though he is no less aware that’s these things occur. In his essay on the post-Michael Brown Ferguson protests and subsequent police-incited violence he finds himself hiding from the police aggression and noticing a couple of black youth making their way across the parking lot where he is, and writes about his immediate reaction of being scared of them. He ponders when it was in his life that he so internalized the racism of systemic white supremacy that he would react this way? This is the most blunt and insightful moment in this collection, leaving me wanting more insight of this nature throughout.
All but three of these essays were written for “The New York Review of Books” and the approach and style are one with them. Personally that leaves me wanting, but perhaps for others this style is more appreciated.
May 4, 2025
I had read some of these essays before but found myself riveted by the collection, by the scope and depth, perspective, and compassion. I loved the braiding of personal, political, cultural, historical. I think I liked this collection of essays better than his novels, and I liked those too. Here, the truth is so raw and deep, and the essays just rolled along until I got to the end and wished for more.
May 1, 2020
My review (3 stars) is really only for the few essays I enjoyed reading in this book. There’s something about Pinckney’s writing style that I just couldn’t get into, so I found myself skipping around, only reading a few of the essays before putting the book down.
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July 7, 2022I really can’t rate this book because I only read a few of the essays. But they were interesting especially the analysis of the philosophies of writers like Cleaver and Baldwin and even Mailer. Also I enjoyed the one on Aretha Franklin.
September 20, 2025
3.5. A varied set of essays for me. I got more out of the more linear ones. Some felt very stream of consciousness and were hard for me to get through. Definitely an intense, powerful book covering a lot of Black history in (and sometimes out of) America.
March 14, 2020
rating of 4.50
February 28, 2021
More towards 4.5 / 5. I'll be reading more of his work.
December 26, 2024
loved all the essays except for the two ones about art exhibitions--reading about visual art just isn't for me i fear
January 1, 2021
Pinckney is my contemporary, so there's a lot I relate to. He's taking up the essay in the tradition of Elizabeth Hardwick, whose recent collection he edited. (Now Zadie Smith edits his. It's a nice genealogy.) While he already had me, he sealed the deal with the essay on the movie Selma, which he criticizes, with evidence, for wrongly treating LBJ's role. The movie needed a villain, he says, and LBJ was chosen: but that was a mistake.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews