Heads of the Colored People

"Nafissa Thompson-Spires’ debut story collection is uneven, but at its best, it has a sly and searching power. One story is written in passive-aggressive notes between the mothers of the only two black children in an elementary school. In another, a man engages in an escalating war with his female officemate over how bright to keep the room. These are funny sketches of petty power struggles with low stakes, but they also make a subtle argument about the ways that race and gender add charge and pain to interactions. “The pressure has to come out some kind of way,” one character says."

"It's a tie between Heads of the Colored People, by Nafissa Thompson-Spires, and Heavy, by Kiese Laymon. They are both books of astounding insight, humor and language so sharp you may cut your fingers on the pages."

"We need a new word for this story collection. Dark humor isn't quite it. But it's close. It's dark; it's funny; but it's kind, too."

"Heads of the Colored People, by Nafissa Thompson-Spires."