Janelle Monáe. (2022). The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer. HarperCollins.

Janelle Monáe. 2022. The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer. HarperCollins.

Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer. HarperCollins, 2022.

Janelle Monáe. The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer. HarperCollins, 2022.

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     JANELLE MONÁE is widely celebrated as an American singer/songwriter, actress, producer, fashion icon, and futurist whose globally successful career spans over a decade. With her highly theatrical and stylized concept albums, she has garnered eight Grammy nominations and has developed her own label imprint, Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has also earned great success as an actor, starring in critically acclaimed films including Moonlight, Hidden Figures, Harriet, The Glorias, and the 2020 horror film Antebellum. She will star in the highly anticipated sequel Knives Out 2. The Memory Librarian is her debut book.

   • name: Janelle Monáe

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New York Times bestseller!

In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, futurist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums, exploring how different threads of liberation—queerness, race, gender plurality, and love—become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape...and what the costs might be when trying to unravel and weave them into freedoms.

Whoever controls our memories controls the future.

Janelle Monáe and an incredible array of talented collaborators have crafted a collection of tales comprising the bold vision and powerful themes that have made Monáe such a compelling and celebrated storyteller. Dirty Computer introduced a world in which thoughts—as a means of self-conception—could be controlled or erased by a select few. And whether you were human, AI, or other, your life and sentience were dictated by those who'd convinced themselves they had the right to decide your fate.

That was until Jane 57821 decided to remember and break free.

Expanding from that mythos, these stories fully explore what it's like to live in such a totalitarian society . . . and what it takes to get out of it. Building off the tradition of speculative fiction writers such as Octavia E. Butler, Ted Chiang, Becky Chambers, and Nnedi Okorafor—and filled with powerful themes and Monáe's emblematic artistic vision—The Memory Librarian serves to readers tales that dissect the human trials of identity expression, technology, and love, reaching through to the worlds of memory and time, and the stakes and power that pulse there.

reviews

1. • premium: False
   • source: Booklist (starred review)
   • content:

     "A reminder for those who've ever been told they don't fit in that there's a world beyond this harsh one and a set of tools that can help them get there. . . The Afrofuturist collection feeds both Monáe's fan base, who will be hungry to delve deeper into her work, and sci-fi fans looking for another book in the burgeoning Black speculative fiction genre."
     — Washington Post

     "A poignant commentary on the power of technology, the preservation of queer identity and the commodification of time. . . The Memory Librarian shows us the future can be an unnerving reflection of our unexamined vices, but we can also plant the seeds for a brighter tomorrow." — USA Today

     "In her book, Monáe offers us a warning, but also a way out. . . Flawed, dirty, proudly glitching, the queer robots of Monáe's vision refuse to be so easily boiled down into 1s and 0s. The Memory Librarian might not be the answer to the social and political upsets of our time, but it is an answer, and a fiercely inspiring one: a deepening of Afrofuturism's potential to weaponize our dreams for a freer, more joyous world." — Wired

     "Each story in this collection is a searing but ultimately hopeful glimpse into how marginalized groups can hope and create in a world set against them. Written with a group of collaborators, including award-winning authors and sociologists, this book is reminiscent of the anti-racist and community-building themes present in N.K. Jemisin and Nnedi Okorafor's work, as well as the utopian philosophy of Ursula K. Le Guin and the dystopian technological vision of Philip K. Dick. It's a stunning collection of stories." — Buzzfeed

     "Blistering, hopeful, and richly written. . . All readers will finish the book craving more of these extremely queer, bold stories that battle gatekeeping and erasure, digging into both the worst potential of a surveillance state and the gritty glimmer of the rebellion that can defeat it." — Booklist (starred review)

     "A moving, triumphant collection...This is a knockout." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

     "Monáe's collection speaks to both the sf tradition of mind-control tyranny and the way that the powerful marginalize individuals in order to control the whole. Highly recommended for readers of conspiracy and thought-control sf or of Afrofuturist works by the likes of Octavia Butler, Nalo Hopkinson, N.?K. Jemisin, and Nnedi Okorafor." — Library Journal (starred review)

     "Emotionally raw and with a wholehearted love for people, these stories will make readers long to forge deeper human connections by sharing and holding one another's memories...A celebration of queer and Afrofuturist science fiction saluting creativity in difference." — Kirkus Reviews

     "Janelle Monáe is a creative superstar who has tackled everything from music to fashion to film. And with The Memory Librarian, she enters the literary world, proving that there's truly nothing she can't do. . . Echoes of classics like Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind mix powerfully with explorations of genderqueerness, love, race, and more. . . True to the science fiction genre, The Memory Librarian is an assemblage of hope; liberation emerges when our memories and histories are used as educators. This one is sure to leave an impression." — Bust Magazine

     "With her first book. . . [Janelle Monáe] proves that she can continue being just as electric with the written word, even when it's...

2. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     November 1, 2021
     

     In Flint and Mirror, with the Irish battling English encroachment, Hugh O'Neil, Lord of the North, is torn between England's Elizabeth the Great, who signals her devotion to him with an obsidian mirror, and the flint-bearing ancient Irish arising from the underworld to make him the country's savior; from Crowley, winner of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement (75,000-copy first printing). In Davenport's debut, a young Black woman faces both racism and misogyny when she commits herself to the Praetorian Trials--better called The Blood Trials, as only a quarter of the participants survive--to find out who assassinated her grandfather and seek revenge (75,000-copy first printing). Award-winning author Ford was working on Aspects at his untimely death in 2006, and the novel--set in an alternate 18th century and blending swords and machine guns, magic fantasy and politics--has finally achieved publication (60,000-copy first printing). With Spear, Nebula and Lambda award-winning Griffith offers a queer retelling of the Arthurian legend, with a girl raised in a cave following her destiny to the court of King Artos of Caer Leon (100,000-copy first printing). In Kenyon's Shadow Fallen, set during the Norman Conquest, an invading knight--actually son of one of the universe's more deadly powers--realizes that a noblewoman he encounters is an immortal transformed by sorcery into a flesh-and-blood human, and he must restore her to her rightful place or tragedy awaits (250,000-copy first printing). In the Hugo and Nebula award-winning Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone, reticent Marra is fed up with the way her kingdom's prince mistreats her sisters and seeks the help of a gravewitch so that she can get rid of him for good. Reimagining J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Martinez's God of Neverland features the adult Michael Darling on a rescue mission to his erstwhile home, where magic is threatened and Peter Pan (whose real name is Maponos) has gone missing (75,000-copy first printing). Star-dusted singer, songwriter, and actor, Mon�e puts to page the Afrofuturistic world evident in her celebrated album Dirty Computer in The Memory Librarian, exploring how race, gender identity, and love fare in a totalitarian environment as Jane 57821 decides that she does not want to lead the life intended for her (200,000-copy first printing). From Power, the New York Times best-selling author of Wilder Girls, In a Garden of Burning Gold features twins Rhea and Lexos, who must contend with activists challenging their irascible father's governance of their small, ever-teetering country. Having won Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, Roanhorse follows up her award-finalist epic Black Sun with the sequel Fevered Star, set in the Meridien, where magic is controlled, the gods smashed down, and sea captain Xiala caught up in the ensuing chaos (75,000-copy first printing). Ward returns with Love Arisen, next in the "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series, stark, shadowy, and erotic but no details yet (125,000-copy first printing).

     Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

3. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     Starred review from January 31, 2022
     In this moving, triumphant collection, singer Monáe returns to the dystopian world of her Dirty Computer concept album and short film. These five sci-fi shorts, each written with a different coauthor, explore the consequences of a totalitarian regime that, in pursuit of a pure society, monitors its citizens’ identities, thoughts, and relationships and scrubs clean the memories and personhoods of those who are labeled deviant. In “Save Changes,” written with Yohanca Delgado, a young woman has one chance to change the past and worries how to use it. “Timebox,” written with Eve L. Ewing, sees a couple fight over how to use a pantry removed from time, while in “Timebox Altar(ed),” written with Sheree Renée Thomas, a gaggle of children get a glimpse into a solarpunk future. The longest entries are the standouts: the title story, written with Alaya Dawn Johnson, and “Nevermind,” written with Danny Lore, are both odes to queer Afrofuturism, illuminating the importance of love, community, and human connection in the darkest of times. Though a special treat for Dirty Computer fans, readers won’t need to be familiar with the album to marvel at the big ideas, riveting action, and hopeful message here. This is a knockout. Agents: Eve Atterman and Suzanne Gluck, WME.

4. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     March 1, 2022
     In her debut collection, musician and actress Mon�e collaborates with a different writer for every story to explore a world defined by some people's resistance to a dangerous surveillance state in which memories are currency. An introduction, "Breaking Dawn," lays out the collection's guiding thought experiment: In a world with cameras everywhere, most people have accepted the idea that "an eye in the sky might protect us from...ourselves, our world"--and soon, not content with seeing the surface of things, the New Dawn found ways "past the encrypted walls of our minds," into people's thoughts and memories. This constant surveillance divides the nation into those who are safe and clean and those who are "deviant, complex"--the dirty computers. The title story, written with Alaya Dawn Johnson, explores the life of Seshet, the Director Librarian of Little Delta, the New Dawn's highest-ranking position. Interested in the contradictions of bureaucracy and the conflict within someone with the power to enforce rules who doesn't abide by them, Seshet investigates the curious background of her new lover. "Nevermind" is both a memory-enhancing drug and a story (written with Danny Lore) set in an off-grid community where women and nonbinary people can exist free from "people trying to force so much on [them]. Capitalism for one; monogamy for another." The theme of collective resistance continues in some of the other stories. In "Timebox," written with Eve L. Ewing, a couple discovers extra time hidden in their pantry, pushing them to grapple with inequities in the way time is distributed. The last story, "Timebox Alta(red)," written with Sheree Ren�e Thomas, has a group of children create an altar that transports them through time and space, showing that you can't build the future if you don't dream it first. Studded with references to Mon�e's album Dirty Computer (2018), the book is a clever adaptation of music to a new form. Emotionally raw and with a wholehearted love for people, these stories will make readers long to forge deeper human connections by sharing and holding one another's memories. A celebration of queer and Afrofuturist science fiction saluting creativity in difference.

     COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

5. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     March 1, 2022
     In five satisfyingly long short stories, singer Mon�e and her five collaborators paint a picture of a technocapitalist dystopia ruled by an organization that monitors the memories of its populace. While the New Dawn erases the memories of "deviants" to create a standardized future, underground, gender-nonconforming rebels fight back by remembering, sharing, storytelling, and creating. A student tired of sprinting through life finds a pantry where time stands still; Director Librarian Seshet discovers that rebels are clogging memory collectors with impossible, made-up memories; a protective sister tries to figure out the best moment to use her father's pendant, which can supposedly turn back time--but only once. Mon�e's tales, coauthored with Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, Eve L. Ewing, Yohanca Delgado, and Sheree Ren�e Thomas, are blistering, hopeful, and richly written. Knowledge of Mon�e's 2018 album and short film Dirty Computer isn't required, but fans will enjoy finding familiar faces and Easter eggs throughout the book. All readers will finish the book craving more of these extremely queer, bold stories that battle gatekeeping and erasure, digging into both the worst potential of a surveillance state and the gritty glimmer of the rebellion that can defeat it. HIGH DEMAND BACKSTORY: Grammy-nominated Mon�e captured fans' imaginations with her cyberpunk vision, and they and new readers will flock to this collection.

     COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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New York Times bestseller!

In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, futurist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums, exploring how different threads of liberation—queerness, race, gender plurality, and love—become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape...and what the costs might be when trying to unravel and weave them into freedoms.

Whoever controls our memories controls the future.

Janelle Monáe and an incredible array of talented collaborators have crafted a collection of tales comprising the bold vision and powerful themes that have made Monáe such a compelling and celebrated storyteller. Dirty Computer introduced a world in which thoughts—as a means of self-conception—could be...

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