Annotations

"Genius—brilliant, polished and of considerabledepth."—Ishmael Reed
An experimental first novel of poem-like compression,Annotationshas a great deal to say about growing up Black in St. Louis. Reminiscent of Jean Toomer’sCane, the book is in part a meditation on African-American autobiography. Keene explores questions of identity from many angles—from race to social class to sexuality (gay and straight). Employing all manner of textual play and rhythmic and rhetorical maneuvers, he (re)cre…