Beyoncé Think Piece

People want Bey 2b > she is. They want her as spokesperson 4 all their convictions. So they turn all she does into statements of solidarity— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) February 12, 2016

Feminists want Bey 2b feminist. Natural hair cheerleaders want Bey as their leader. #BLM civil rights activists want Bey to be woke as hell. The list of causes that people want to recruit Bey as face/body/soul for goes on and on, but what her fans want Beyoncé to be doesn't magically transform her into what she simply isn't.

Bey is none of these things. She's a performer & great self promoter who wants max $ success. No time for or interest in your passions.

Fortunately for Bey, her fans are happy to fill in blanks. She gives an inch and is credited with a mile. She reps whatever u want her to.

If Bey actually was who you want her to be, you'd grow bored. Best to be a blank slate that each fan can fill up to their personal liking.— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) February 12, 2016

Beyonce is Chauncey Gardiner. Pat yourself on back if you get the reference.— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) February 12, 2016

"@JonMichaud: @AuthorofPatches "I like to watch.""— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) February 12, 2016

btw - None of that is meant as a slight of Beyonce. To the contrary. Bravo! What she has pulled off puts her in rarified air. No easy trick.— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) February 12, 2016

Protests planned against and for @Beyonce https://t.co/RkugcUpiV0 #BoycottBeyonce #Formation pic.twitter.com/ELrPpXk28k— CNN Entertainment (@CNNent) February 10, 2016

Boycotting Beyonce is even more ridiculous than being a stan beyond reason. She isn't worth the energy to be so strongly for or against.— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) February 13, 2016

Just enjoy the music, the videos, the intoxicating live performances. Let that be enough. And if you can't beat them, join them?

Bey isn't the only one who can get into Black Panther mode. https://t.co/iWCaLegqhU #BHM pic.twitter.com/sNRk2pKPjx— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) February 13, 2016

You stan for Beyonce, I'll stan for Toni Morrison, Jesmyn Ward, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Zadie Smith. I win.— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) March 20, 2014

Or do I?

AND NOW FOR SOME BOOK REVIEWS.

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dennis Lehane's debut novel that introduced us to private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro is an example of him doing what he does best. He brings readers to the gritty streets of Boston where bad people do bad things and the good guys do all they can to make things right. If the line between good guys and bad guys gets a little blurred, such is the nature of life. That doesn't change what's right and what's wrong. The examination of racial tensions and unrepentant bigotry is a worthy effort within the confines of a crime genre novel. I've read novels Lehane subsequently wrote prior to reading his first effort, so I know that A Drink Before the War demonstrates raw talent destined to grow from book to book.

View all my reviews

The Axeman by Ray Celestin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a thoroughly entertaining read populated with interesting characters and intriguing situations right out of history books. But most appealing of all to me was the setting. New Orleans shortly before the onset of Prohibition. This book has the Mafia, vice, jazz musicians, voodoo, racial tensions, interracial love in defiance of the times, crooked politicians, determined police detectives, intrepid private investigators, and as you may have guessed from the title, a serial killer running amok. And let me not forget the predecessor hurricane to Katrina thrown in for good measure. It delivered what the cover copy promised. I can't ask for any more than that.

View all my reviews

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book delivered and proved the old adage that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Stephen King's son has proven capable of giving his old man a run for his money. Taking the merriest of holidays and turning ho ho ho's into a tale of horror was a stroke of genius. Hear Jingle Bells in late November or December and it brings smiles to the faces of those who celebrate Christmas on December 25th. Heard in June and it's straight up creepy because it so obviously does not belong. I wouldn't be surprised if it was this particular event that planted the seed which became NOS4A2. Regardless, Joe Hill's novel is a well executed tale inhabited by characters who are easy to relate to. It features a protagonist who is able to conjure up a bridge with her mind that can take her wherever she wishes to go. We all wish at some point that we had a super power, whether it be invisibility or x ray vision or superhuman strength or the ability to take flight. In NOS4A2 we meet a woman who can find whatever is missing, wherever it may be. But taking too many trips in search of lost things comes at the risk of losing her mind. Or having everyone believe that is what's happening to her. This spooky, inventive story has me anxious to read more of Joe Hill's work, and to take down my Christmas decorations ASAP. Anybody can make Halloween scary but Mr. Hill appears capable of freaking out readers 365 days a year.

View all my reviews

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Intriguing premise. The various gods who have been worshiped by mankind over the centuries are real. When belief of them is at its height, when they are being prayed to and sacrifices are regularly made in their honor, their powers are at peak. As the years pass into modern times and memories of the old gods fade, they become shadows of their former selves. New gods are continually created because there are always new things that men believe in and live for and sometimes kill for. But plenty of the old gods, usually masked as common people walking among us, are still around. If enough of them band together, perhaps the ancient gods can vanquish the newer ones in a war. A man named Shadow, who toes the line between the world of man and gods, is enlisted in the cause. There are many books I've greatly enjoyed that I no longer recall many details about. Something tells me that American Gods is one of those books that for reasons I scarcely understand will stick with me.

View all my reviews