Time - USA (2021-12-27)

88 Time December 27, 2021/January 3, 2022

BEST NONFICTION

BOOKS

BY ANNABEL GUTTERMAN

1 A Little Devil in America

A finalist for the National Book Award,

Hanif Abdurraqib’s work of cultural

criticism is an astonishing accounting

of Black performance. In lyrical essays,

Abdurraqib analyzes everything from

the rise of Whitney Houston to a

schoolyard fistfight. The author, also a

poet, seamlessly blends pop culture

references with U.S. history and

stories from his own upbringing. He

covers broad ground with ease and wit,

an impressive balance for a book that

is as bold as it is essential.

2 Crying in H Mart

When Michelle Zauner,

founder of the band Japanese

Breakfast, was 25 years old,

her mother was diagnosed

with terminal cancer. That

illness and her mother’s

eventual death shattered

Zauner’s sense of self—and

forced her to re-evaluate her

relationship with her Korean

culture. In her memoir, the

artist searches for answers

about her identity and creates

a devastating portrait of a

mother and daughter and the

life they shared.

3 Invisible Child

For almost a decade, reporter Andrea

Elliott observed the coming-of-age of

a girl named Dasani, who has lived in

and out of the New York City shelter