“McCarthy’s analyses and observations are masterfully articulated, as are his dissents . . . . He well knows that if despair brought on by a troubled world is to be kept in check, the right prescriptions must be offered, the right traditions advanced, the right lessons drawn, and from the right people. —Jerald Walker, The New York Times Book Review [on Who Will Pay Reparations On My Soul?]

“For its penetrating thought, its joyful language, and its eclectic wanderings among the peaks and valleys of high and low culture, this book is an act of sublime generosity from a brilliant mind. Essai? Triomphe.” —J.J. Amaworo Wilson, New York Journal of Books [on Who Will Pay Reparations On My Soul?]

“Jesse McCarthy is an artist of the ear. In the essays collected in Who Will Pay Reparations on My Soul? he shows us how to hear the anguish and strange joy in trap music, the verbal and rhetorical nuances in American political and poetic traditions, and even the minute change in meaning between ‘black’ and ‘Black.’ Out of these sounds and many others, McCarthy’s challenging and startlingly humane essays make a symphony. This is a beautiful and beguiling new voice, tuned perfectly for the troubles and opportunities of our moment. Listen up.” —Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker staff writer