Who Put This Song On

(Paperback)

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

'A brilliant debut of black girlhood and mental health; at turns unflinchingly irreverent, laugh out loud funny and heartbreakingly honest' Elizabeth Acevedo, bestselling author of THE POET X

'Morgan Parker put this song on - and I hope it never turns off' Nic Stone, bestselling author of DEAR MARTIN

'It's perfect' Samantha Irby, bestselling author of WE ARE NEVER MEETING IN REAL LIFE

'I love this book' Julie Buntin, author of MARLENA

Trapped in sunny, stifling, small-town suburbia, seventeen-year-old Morgan knows why she's in therapy. She can't count the number of times she's been the only non-white person at the sleepover, been teased for her "weird" outfits, and been told she's not "really" black. Also, she's spent most of her summer crying in bed. So there's that, too.

Lately, it feels like the whole world is listening to the same terrible track on repeat - and it's telling them how to feel, who to vote for, what to believe. Morgan wonders, when can she turn this song off and begin living for herself

Life may be a never-ending hamster wheel of agony, but Morgan finds her crew of fellow outcasts, blasts music like there's no tomorrow, discovers what being black means to her, and finally puts her mental health first. She decides that, no matter what, she will always be intense, ridiculous, passionate, and sometimes hilarious. After all, darkness doesn't have to be a bad thing. Darkness is just real.

Loosely based on her own teenage life and diaries, Morgan Parker's WHO PUT THIS SONG ON is an outstanding debut, full of courage, generosity and reasons to live.

Reviews

2019 justly belongs to Morgan Parker . . . [she] is one of this generation's best minds - New York Times T Magazine

Parker has rendered a brilliant debut of black girlhood and mental health; at turns unflinchingly irreverent, laugh out loud funny and heartbreakingly honest - Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award winner and bestselling author of The Poet X

It's rare to find a book that aptly balances the comedy and tragedy of being human. Morgan Parker put THIS song on - and I hope it never turns off - Nic Stone, bestselling author of Dear Martin

As a weird, depressed, Radiohead-obsessed black post-teen myself, it's clear Morgan ripped my heart out and splattered it across the pages of this book. It's perfect - Samantha Irby, bestselling author of We Are Never Meeting In Real Life

In this wildly smart book - about depressions, high school crushes, faith and being a black girl in America - Parker has created a voice that will be a touchstone of stories about growing up and growing wiser. I love this book - Julie Buntin, author of Marlena

Author Bio

Morgan Parker is the author of Magical Negro (Corsair 2019), There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce (Corsair 2017), and Other People's Comfort Keeps Me Up at Night (Switchback Books 2015). Her poetry and essays have been published and anthologized in numerous publications, including the Paris Review; The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop; Best American Poetry 2016; the New York Times; and the Nation. Parker is the recipient of a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, winner of a 2016 Pushcart Prize, and a Cave Canem graduate fellow. Find her online at morgan-parker.com and on Twitter at @morganapple.