A well-researched memoir, historical survey, and spiritual guidebook.
Walter outlines the benefits of dance meditation and Zen Buddhism for Black cancer patients in this nonfiction book.
American culture and racism, argues Walter, combine in a toxic mixture that impacts the health and well-being of Black Americans. Per the author, the United States fosters a culture of greed and anger as racism simultaneously “tears and shatters” the “dreams and hopes” of Black communities. Born in Los Angeles, Walter experienced racism firsthand in both subtle and overt ways. Her mother was born in segregated Oklahoma, and her father was killed by a police officer when she was 12 years old. After receiving her doctorate degree in dance history and theory from the University of California, Riverside, she often found herself marginalized in higher education’s predominantly white spaces. In this genre-blending work, the author tells her personal story within the larger context of American history, eventually centering her experiences with Zen Buddhism. (The historic overview of racism in America is combined with the story of Zen Buddhism’s arrival in 19th-century California, via Chinese immigrants.) Walter was engaged with Christianity throughout much of her life, serving as a deaconess in church. Unfulfilled by her religion and angered by the weight of racism on her life, she experimented with other spiritual systems (including Kabbalah), eventually finding her way to California’s Tassajara Zen Monastery. It was there that she discovered the salve to her lifetime of anger and spiritual hunger: “I’ve learned about how the self and its ego are sources of suffering for people of color, and about releasing ourselves and others from it through Zen Buddhism,” she writes.
This poignant, historically grounded look at American racism offers a valuable perspective on the intersection of race, gender, and healthcare in American history. In addition to providing memoir material and social commentary, the work also serves as a primer on Zen Buddhist teachings and meditation techniques. (The author discusses Zen Buddhism’s role in helping her navigate her diagnosis with multiple myeloma, a type of bone marrow cancer.) While delivering a searing indictment of the ways in which the U.S. healthcare system treats Black women, Walter emphasizes how her involvement with Dance Meditation (a technique long practiced by Tibetan Buddhists) has helped her confront illness, death, and worldly priorities. The text details dance moves accompanied by photographs demonstrating various steps. The practice of Kinhin (meditative walking) is framed by the author as “a mindful dance”; she offers readers a step-by-step guide to feet alignment, body positions, and steps. The work’s final chapter provides sample daily routines that highlight the meditative discipline of Zazen and includes specific recitations (such as a “Loving Kindness Meditation”) and mantras (“I take refuge in buddha / Before all beings”). Accessible to readers without any background in Buddhist philosophy, the volume also reflects the academic background of the author, who supports her arguments with endnotes and a scholarly bibliography. While the book’s title targets Black cancer patients, the work is broadly applicable to anyone looking to improve their physical health and wellbeing.
A well-researched memoir, historical survey, and spiritual guidebook.Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781476697345
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Toplight Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
Everything about Sabathia is larger than life, yet he tells his story with honesty and humility.
One of the best pitchers of his generation—and often the only Black man on his team—shares an extraordinary life in baseball.
A high school star in several sports, Sabathia was being furiously recruited by both colleges and professional teams when the death of his grandmother, whose Social Security checks supported the family, meant that he couldn't go to college even with a full scholarship. He recounts how he learned he had been drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the first round over the PA system at his high school. In 2001, after three seasons in the minor leagues, Sabathia became the youngest player in MLB (age 20). His career took off from there, and in 2008, he signed with the New York Yankees for seven years and $161 million, at the time the largest contract ever for a pitcher. With the help of Vanity Fair contributor Smith, Sabathia tells the entertaining story of his 19 seasons on and off the field. The first 14 ran in tandem with a poorly hidden alcohol problem and a propensity for destructive bar brawls. His high school sweetheart, Amber, who became his wife and the mother of his children, did her best to help him manage his repressed fury and grief about the deaths of two beloved cousins and his father, but Sabathia pursued drinking with the same "till the end" mentality as everything else. Finally, a series of disasters led to a month of rehab in 2015. Leading a sober life was necessary, but it did not tame Sabathia's trademark feistiness. He continued to fiercely rile his opponents and foment the fighting spirit in his teammates until debilitating injuries to his knees and pitching arm led to his retirement in 2019. This book represents an excellent launching point for Jay-Z’s new imprint, Roc Lit 101.
Everything about Sabathia is larger than life, yet he tells his story with honesty and humility.Pub Date: July 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-13375-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roc Lit 101
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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