Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me one of the nation's preeminent

one of the nation's preeminent scholars and a New York Times bestselling author

with algorithms aimed at shaping our every thought--plus a sense that history offers no resources

qualities that are perhaps the real trouble with most "serious" poetry: "By now

They remind us that we

Jessica Smartt felt the weight of helping prepare her kids for life

Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me one of the nation's preeminentA "dramatic [and] ingeniously crafted" (Los Angeles Times) memoir of family, community, and resilience, and an ode to the power of books to help us understand ourselves, from the renowned founder of Well Read Black Girl. "A beautiful portrait of a full life that has been buoyed by an expansive and ever growing love for words and for language." Hanif Abdurraqib, author of There's Always This Year AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "She is a friend of my