… a raw chunk of life sliced into essays packed with truths, devastating realizations, music, failed coping mechanisms, a constant search for the self, and a lot of booze … More than a collection of essays, this book reads like a slightly fragmented memoir focused on the search for identity, the desire to write, and Perry’s constant sense of unease as a black man in Iowa City. While music, friends, and his love life all play major roles in the collection, alcohol, racism, the inability to create consistently — and a sense of agitated stagnation — are the elements of cohesion that make this feel like a complete, deep, satisfying read … Perry’s prose is energetic and strange. It effortlessly goes from poetic and self-assured to gloomy and plagued by insecurities to hedonistic and lighthearted … the writing is a mixture of pretty and gritty, educated and desperate, brilliant and dim … The variety of structures, formats, and rhythms Perry uses in Some of Us Are Very Hungry Now is extraordinary. Some passages are extremely personal and touching while others turn his experiences into communal events that highlight how change and insecurity are constants that affect all of us … Perry doesn’t shy away from presenting himself and all his flaws … Perry writes beautifully about ugly events and feelings. He tackles racism head on and explores his role in fighting it … a scratchy, heartfelt collection of essays that dig deep into who Perry is and engage the reader in the process with revelations that morph into mirrors that are uncomfortable to look at … These essays shine with broken humanity and announce the arrival of a up-to-date voice in contemporary nonfiction, but they do so with heaps of melancholia and frustration instead of answers. That Perry can hurt us and keep us asking for more is a testament to his talent as a storyteller.
