Thats How They Get You, Damon Young
Thats How They Get You, Damon Young
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That's How They Get You
An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor

Author: Damon Young

Narrator: Damon Young, André Santana, Cary Hite, Chanté McCormick, Deanna Anthony, Jaime Lincoln Smith, Janina Edwards, Je Nie Fleming, Ozzie Jacobs, Ryan Vincent Anderson

Unabridged: 6 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/03/2025


Synopsis

From the Thurber Prize-winning author of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker comes a pioneering collection of Black humor from some of the most acclaimed writers and performers at work today

A critic explores the paradox of finding community in “the dozens” while grieving. A violent town ritual causes an all-too-familiar moral panic. An email thread between friends on why we need an updated Green Book but for public toilets. All across the nation, “Karens” become illegal overnight. These are just a few of the hilarious worlds contained in Damon Young’s groundbreaking anthology featuring the best, funniest, and Blackest essays, short stories, letters, and rants.

With words that roast, ignite, and burn while connecting to and coalescing around a singular thesis, That's How They Get You emphasizes how and why Black American humor is uniquely transfixing. This is a mixture of not just observational anxieties and stream-of-consciousness lucidities but also acute political clarity about America. Edited and with an introduction by Damon Young, the critically acclaimed author of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, the collection features new material from an all-star roster of contributors, including Hanif Abdurraqib, Mahogany L. Browne, Wyatt Cenac, Kiese Laymon, Deesha Philyaw, Roy Wood Jr., and Nicola Yoon.

About The Author

Pittsburgh writer DAMON YOUNG’s debut memoir, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays (Ecco), won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. A founder of the culture blog Very Smart Brothas and creator and host of the Crooked Media podcast Stuck with Damon Young, Damon has been a contributing columnist for The Washington Post Magazine, a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and a columnist for GQ and was the inaugural writer-in-residence at the University of Pittsburgh’s David C. Frederick Honors College.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paige on June 04, 2025

I’ve been on a funny essay tangent lately, so I decided to give this new collection a try. Mixed bag, but I enjoyed the Brian Broome, Kiese Laymon, and Deesha Philyaw pieces the best.......more

Goodreads review by nestle • whatnestleread on June 04, 2025

Smart, moving collection that uses comedy as a lens to explore the full spectrum of Black life. From laugh-out-loud satire to essays that hit closer to grief and identity, it’s less about jokes and more about highlighting the Black experience. I found some pieces sharper or funnier than others (par f......more

Goodreads review by Steph on June 06, 2025

Happy belated pub day to everyone involved in making this book!! Thank you Pantheon and Penguin Random House for the advanced copy in exchange for my review. I had just finished reading a disturbing book and then saw a scary movie back to back so I was really happy to break up the stress with this o......more

Goodreads review by Vnunez-Ms_luv2read on January 25, 2025

Nice selection of essays/stories. Nice variety of subject matter. I had never heard of this author prior, but I will be looking for him again. I found myself getting done what was ahead of me for the day to pick this book back up and continue reading. Some of the stories will resonant with the reade......more

Goodreads review by KR on June 01, 2025

I've been a fan of Damon Young ever since he ran the funny, engaging blog Very Smart Brothas (before it was bought and sadly run into the ground under the Gawker network) and his voice is sharp and hilarious as always here. It made me wish his writing made up more of the book since a lot of the othe......more


Quotes

One of People’s Best Nonfiction Books of the Summer
One of The Millions' Most Anticipated Books of Spring
One of Ebony’s Great Reads from Black Authors this June

“Rounds up crackling, hilarious and often rage-tinged insights from some of the best Black writers and performers today. . . . You won't want to miss it.”People

“Read slowly, savor.”Chicago Tribune

“One of summer’s hottest new anthologies.”­—The Grio

“A wild mix of narratives, jumping from themes and styles, coming from some of the biggest names in Black writing right now, coalescing into an engaging read of quick and punchy entries. . . . I found myself laughing hard and laughing often.”Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Read this book. It’s an excellent collection.”The Miami Times

“A pioneering collection.”—The Millions

“Young’s wit and honesty make this a summer read that’s as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.”­Pittsburgh City Paper

“Young has a wicked sense of humor and a vast vocabulary of invective, both of which are put to good use in this anthology. . . . Funny bones, raised fists, scorching insights into the biz, delicious insults, and much more are to be had here.”Kirkus

“It’s so great curling up with folks who again and again make me laugh out loud. So needed right now—and always.”—Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award finalist for Another Brooklyn

“That's How They Get You
joins Hokum and Honey, Hush! in the handful of truly multi-dimensionally Black humor anthologies by multi-dimensionally Black humorists on my shelf. This extremely funny collection is a Damon Young house party where all the genres are invited: the storytellers, poets, journalists, comics, professors, and professional shit-talkers—no, actually none of the genres are invited, only brilliant Black people united by the gift of gab and jab.”—Terrance Hayes, National Book Award-winning author of Lighthead

“A completely absorbing collection, hilarious and moving.”—Amy Sedaris

“Reading That's How They Get You felt illicit in the best way, and brought back for me how I used to sneak into my father's record collection to listen to his Richard Pryor albums knowing full well I could get punished for doing so. Like Pryor's work, this collection is a riot and risqué, but also revelatory. The last essay in particular will make you chuckle before you say, in all seriousness, ‘g*ddamn.’ That's How They Get You is both a gut-punch and funny as f*ck.”—Robert Jones, Jr., New York Times bestselling author of The Prophets

“A buoyant, beautiful book bursting with big names, big guffaws, and big emotions. Laugh out loud funny? Please. I busted my goddamn gut. Humor—in all its many forms—is one of God’s great gifts, and it is on fine, kaleidoscopic display in this triumphant, artful collection.”—Isaac Fitzgerald, New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts