The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer
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.
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Janelle Monáe is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, performer, producer, actor, and activist.
A moving, triumphant collection...This is a knockout.--Publishers Weekly (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
Mona´e'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)
"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
"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
The Memory Librarian is full of memorable and believable characters struggling valiantly against forces of oppression. It confirms Monáe's incredible power of imagination and creativity whatever medium she's working in, and the ability and talent of her co-writers in bringing her vision alive on the page.--Fantasy Hive
