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Wolves
Literary Nonfiction. African & African American Studies. Music. WOLVES is a mixtape of allegorical memoir, what Jeffrey "Boosie" Bolden called "literary raps" from his time chasing dreams in Gulfport, Mississippi, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is an African-American fantasy, a deeper look into the people America calls "thugs." Hip hop guides the rhythms of the prose and leaves its music within the reader long after the pages have been turned.
"Time and place are the rails upon which Jeffery Bolden's work runs. Non-sequential but beautifully linked through lyricism, WOLVES guides its readers steadily by a third rail of joy and pain, a latitude people and moments sprawling over the page yet held tight with an MC's mind. A mixtape of memoir, this collection of tracks speaks to and for those who have scraped through the rough margins of 21st century America, scraped through building a sense of self in new places time and time again, and scraped their way to self-realization. Hip-hop in heart, flow, and delivery, WOLVES is a great book."--Cameron Barnett
"In WOLVES, Jeffrey Bolden creates an atmosphere you can touch. Track by track, this hybrid work grabs the reader like plugging into a tape deck. His characters are both golden-celebrity and everyday-grit, their voices penetrating the imagination like a sound wave. Bolden writes through hip-hop legends whisper throughout his lyricism. Shoulder to shoulder, they stand like giants. Yet, it is Bolden who echoes, reshaping the literary landscape. This is a book of dreams and redemption, of black love and vulnerability. Bolden interrogates the mirror of the self, of what it means to be a black man in America who dreams with his pen and ink."--Brittany Hailer
"Time and place are the rails upon which Jeffery Bolden's work runs. Non-sequential but beautifully linked through lyricism, WOLVES guides its readers steadily by a third rail of joy and pain, a latitude people and moments sprawling over the page yet held tight with an MC's mind. A mixtape of memoir, this collection of tracks speaks to and for those who have scraped through the rough margins of 21st century America, scraped through building a sense of self in new places time and time again, and scraped their way to self-realization. Hip-hop in heart, flow, and delivery, WOLVES is a great book."--Cameron Barnett
"In WOLVES, Jeffrey Bolden creates an atmosphere you can touch. Track by track, this hybrid work grabs the reader like plugging into a tape deck. His characters are both golden-celebrity and everyday-grit, their voices penetrating the imagination like a sound wave. Bolden writes through hip-hop legends whisper throughout his lyricism. Shoulder to shoulder, they stand like giants. Yet, it is Bolden who echoes, reshaping the literary landscape. This is a book of dreams and redemption, of black love and vulnerability. Bolden interrogates the mirror of the self, of what it means to be a black man in America who dreams with his pen and ink."--Brittany Hailer
139 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2020
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December 13, 2020
A beautiful and captivating book, Bolden mixes aspects of his life (love, music, writing, relationships, dreams, tribulations and so much more) into a book that is set up like a mix tape. Prose and poetics are in conversation with rap songs that act as key markers to the life events Bolden explores. Full of resilience and inspiration, this is a book that pushes back on assumptions and artistic boundaries.
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