Twisted: My Dreadlock Chronicles

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Review Praise for Bert Ashe's Twisted: My Dreadlock Chronicles:"An exhilarating heartfelt memoir about a black man and his dreds and all the world in between." —Junot Díaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"A hilarious, erudite, obsessive compulsive rant through black bohemia and black style." —Trey Ellis, author of Platitudes and Right Here, Right Now"It’s really just hair, but it also represents something much deeper for people who are marginalized. And Twisted offers a complete and satisfying explanation of why that is so." —Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, The Washington Post"Beneath the sometimes outré humor and self-deprecating tone of Twisted are serious and poignant questions about the nature of black identity, who shapes it and why and how black folks might finally seize control of that identity themselves." —Erin Aubry Kaplan, Los Angeles Times". . . An anthem and a love song to dreadlocks. Ashe's story is one of yearning written with poetic frankness." —Shelf Awareness, starred review". . . Twisted is incredibly witty and entertaining. Here is a voice fresh with enthusiasm, both defiant and strong." —Hope Wabuke, The Root"In this delightfully written, amusing, well-researched, and often scholarly chronicle, Ashe reveals the landscape of race, politics, sociology, and even the economics of hairstyles." —Booklist starred review"Twisted is equal parts amusing as it is enlightening for readers, regardless of their hair textures, and a necessary read that finally gives dreadlocks the praise they deserve." —Nylon"Twisted will inspire you to look in the mirror and investigate what messages are conveyed by your clothes, your demeanor and, most importantly, your hair." —Danielle Deavens, Essence"Ashe refuses to be stifled by typical academic strictures, and his attitude throughout seems playfully serious (or seriously playful), as he details more about dreads—their origin, their rise to popularity, their co-option, their care and upkeep—than most readers will think they would want to know." —Kirkus Reviews". . . An eye-opening read, but one that will keep you smiling from cover to cover." —Emily Laurence, Brit + Co"I really do admire it. Bert Ashe is amazingly willing to acknowledge all of the ways in which underneath the dreads is just a guy with a mixture of identities, and that the dreads might appear to resolve such issues, but actually do nothing of the kind. I found Twisted deeply satisfying. By the end of the book, I felt as if I had been taken on a quite serious emotional and intellectual journey." —David Shields, author of Reality Hunger: A Manifesto and Black Planet: Facing Race During an NBA Season"As his mane grows and twists, Ashe does likewise with his tales, with his thoughts, and, delightfully, with the process of the style, the reasons why he waited to grow his dreads, and why . . . he's kept them." —The Times Weekly"I like the style, the moves, the sense of rhythm and riff and the seeming ease with which [Twisted]. . . pulls off some extraordinary effects. The plot is about dreadlocks, but at its heart Twisted is the narrative of the emerging and expanding self." —John Callahan, literary executor for Ralph Ellison and editor of Ellison’s Juneteenth"[Ashe's] is a welcome fresh voice, starting a conversation about black culture from a quirky, fun angle." —Metro"I enjoyed Twisted! It’s obsessive and weird and funny in all the right ways." —Danzy Senna, bestselling author of Caucasia and You Are Free"Bert [Ashe] keeps you intrigued and delighted throughout the book’s various strands. . . . Twisted, at bottom, is an unusual expose of the African American male: whereas machismo, sexual exploits, or political issues are usually at the forefront, Bert convinces us that his hairstyle is the central issue in his attempt to express himself and discover himself. You'll be surprised how much we learn about American culture through Bert's fascinating wrestling match with his locks." —Daryl Cumber Dance, author of Honey, Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women’s Humor and From My People: 400 Years of African American Folklore Read more