“Hear the dark liquor of her laughter rippling behind her sentences” in this magnetic memoir as it explores a journalist’s obsession with pop culture and the difficulty of navigating relationships as a Black woman through fanfiction, feminism, and Southern mores (Saeed Jones). Pop culture is the Pandora’s Box of our lives. Racism, wealth, poverty, beauty, inclusion, exclusion, and hope -- all of these intractable and unavoidable features course through the media we consume. Examining pop culture’s impact on her life, Nichole Perkins takes readers on a rollicking trip through the last twenty years of music, media and the internet from the perspective of one southern Black woman. She explores her experience with mental illness and how the TV series Frasier served as a crutch, how her role as mistress led her to certain internet message boards that prepared her for current day social media, and what it means to figure out desire and sexuality and Prince in a world where marriage is the only acceptable goal for women. Combining her sharp wit, stellar pop culture sensibility, and trademark spirited storytelling, Nichole boldly tackles the damage done to women, especially Black women, by society’s failure to confront the myths and misogyny at its heart, and her efforts to stop the various cycles that limit confidence within herself. By using her own life and loves as a unique vantage point, Nichole humorously and powerfully illuminates how to take the best pop culture has to offer and discard the harmful bits, offering a mirror into our own lives.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I remember being fascinated with sex and romance from a young age, and I was constantly warned by my teachers and parents that if I showed too much interest in those things, boys would think I was easy, and girls would call me names. #2 I was eventually caught kissing one of the boys, and my mother made me stop. Boys were quiet when you kissed them. They did not tease you for being skinny or bucktoothed or smart. They let you lead when you kissed them. #3 I was a scrawny child who always carried books around. I was always overlooked for the girls who already wore training bras, had professionally styled straight hair, and who boasted of boyfriends at other schools. #4 I was not unaffected by my classmates’ becoming pregnant young, even as I remained fascinated by sex and love. I was scared. Teenage pregnancy was a family curse, and every time I looked in the mirror, I worried that it would happen because of an accident.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 I remember being fascinated with sex and romance from a young age, and I was constantly warned by my teachers and parents that if I showed too much interest in those things, boys would think I was easy, and girls would call me names. #2 I was eventually caught kissing one of the boys, and my mother made me stop. Boys were quiet when you kissed them. They did not tease you for being skinny or bucktoothed or smart. They let you lead when you kissed them. #3 I was a scrawny child who always carried books around. I was always overlooked for the girls who already wore training bras, had professionally styled straight hair, and who boasted of boyfriends at other schools. #4 I was not unaffected by my classmates’ becoming pregnant young, even as I remained fascinated by sex and love. I was scared. Teenage pregnancy was a family curse, and every time I looked in the mirror, I worried that it would happen because of an accident.