That's How They Get You

An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor

De: Damon Young

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.

©2025 Damon Young (P)2025 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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

“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