Category: iceberg slim

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Introducing Your Tour Guide, Buck Wild

Recently, I discussed representation in Milestone Comics’ Icon. Today, I want to continue that discussion by focusing on the character of Buck Wild in the Icon series. Buck Wild originally appeared in Icon #13, and as Dwayne McDuffie has made clear, he serves as a commentary on the Black characters that appeared in mainstream comics’ during the 1970s onward. As Rebecca Wanzo notes, “By … Read More Introducing Your Tour Guide, Buck Wild

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Some Reflections on CLA 2018

In Tuesday’s post, I took the time to expand upon some thoughts, ideas, and advice for scholars and students attending academic conferences. The anecdotes I shared arose out of my experiences at this years College Language Association (CLA) convention in Chicago. Today, I want to take a moment and reflect upon some of the amazing papers that I had the opportunity to hear at … Read More Some Reflections on CLA 2018

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Iceberg Slim’s “Lonely Suite” and the Gothic

Throughout Iceberg Slim’s literary career, he wrote to dissuade his readers away from the Life. As such, his stories of the urban ghettos of Chicago and the Midwest served as not just political critiques on an oppressive system but also as didactic narratives. Of course, some individuals misread these cues, as Slim himself writes about in “Rappin About the Pimp Game.” Today, I want … Read More Iceberg Slim’s “Lonely Suite” and the Gothic

Robert H. deCoy, Mardi Gras, and the Carnivalesque

  Last Tuesday, we celebrated Mardi Gras here in South Louisiana, and as usual, the beads flew, the King Cake appeared, and the revelry commenced. Each year, as we party before the beginning of the Easter season, I think back to a class I had during my PhD coursework. The class was on folklore and the carnivalesque in literature. We read Walker Percy’s The … Read More Robert H. deCoy, Mardi Gras, and the Carnivalesque

Top Five Books of 2015!

On Tuesday, I listed my top five posts from 2015. Today, I want to take the opportunity to share with you the to five books I read/reread this previous year. Again, this list is in no particular order. As with most lists, this one was hard to compile, especially considering all of the books I read this year from Frank Yerby’s Speak Now to John A. … Read More Top Five Books of 2015!