Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture

Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture

Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture

An honest, thought-provoking, and often hilarious coming-of-age memoir that celebrates Black identity in America.

Book Details (On Sale Tuesday, April 26)

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Category: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
256 Pages | 5.5 x 8.5 | 1 lb
ISBN: 978-1-7351458-1-5 | Paperback $17.95
ISBN: 978-1-7351458-2-2 | Hardcover $27.95
ISBN: 978-1-7351458-3-9 | Ebook $9.99 (Kindle Unlimited)

 
 

Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture

Like most Black kids who grew up without diverse representation, Jordan Calhoun learned the skill of assigning race to fictional characters. Piccolo, Panthro, Demona, Ursula...he could recognize a Black character when he saw one. He lived in an all-Black city, went to an all-Black school, and could identify characters whose struggles informed his understanding of the Black experience in America.

Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture chronicles Calhoun’s journey from his childhood in Detroit, Michigan as a Seventh-day Adventist to being transferred to private, predominantly white, deeply religious, Seventh-day Adventist schools. He tells his story through the lens of the pop culture he loved and the common adaptations he made while navigating his religious, non-religious, and racial identities.

Calhoun reminds us that entertainment has value in forming our identities, and that we have something to gain by looking back at our childhood entertainment and pop culture experiences. Part homage to the characters he identified with and loved, part celebration of the pop culture—television, movies, music, video games—that influenced his childhood, Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture is an honest, thought-provoking, and often hilarious coming-of-age memoir that celebrates Black identity in America.

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Book Reviews

“A heartfelt, quick-witted, unfailingly honest meditation on pop culture, faith, and the forces that shape us.” —Nicole Chung, bestselling author, All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir

“A beautiful representation of authenticity.” —Omar Holmon, co-founder, Black Nerd Problems, author of Black Nerd Problems: Essays

“Beautiful essays about finding reflection in a dominant culture that barely thinks about you, growing, learning from messages not meant for you. Crucial, vital, modern pop writing.” —Gene Park, Washington Post

“At once heartbreaking and deeply funny, Piccolo is Black is a story of emotional survival told through the lens of a boy grasping for joy and a sense of belonging in a world that often doesn't feel made for him.”—Laura Bassett, Editor-in-chief, Jezebel

“A fascinating journey of belief, conviction, and interruption.”—William Evans, co-founder, Black Nerd Problems, author of Black Nerd Problems: Essays

“Piccolo is Black is a lesson in truth and a memoir I won’t soon forget… a story full of pointed humor and gutting honesty about navigating multiple worlds and identities.” —Preeti Chhibber, author of Spider-Man's Social Dilemma, co-host of Desi Geek Girls

Jordan Calhoun

Jordan Calhoun is a culture writer living in New York City. He is the Editor-in-Chief at Lifehacker, publishes a weekly newsletter about ethics and culture on The Atlantic called Humans Being, and he is a regular contributor as a culture writer for Black Nerd Problems. Calhoun is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, he holds a B.A. in Sociology and Criminal Justice, a B.S. in Psychology from Western Michigan University, and an M.P.A. in Public Policy from New York University. Calhoun’s writing appears in The Atlantic, Black Nerd Problems, Huffington Post, Vulture, and more. Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture is his debut memoir. Find him on Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads @JordanMCalhoun, and on the web jordanmcalhoun.com.

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Jordan Calhoun, Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture

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