It’s very easy to judge someone when you’ve read literally none of their work. Such is the case with Armond White, one of the Internet’s favorite punching bags — seen as such, instead of the thoughtful, insightful, witty, daft, no-bullshit critic he is. This is the collection to show your friends that the Rotten Tomatoes scores of TOY STORY 3 and GET OUT shouldn’t even fucking near a serious conversation of the White gaze. For decades in the alternate press and Black dailies, he ran circles around his New York competition, who parroted the same, basic, racist and non-curious cultural insights and whom were forgotten in a few weeks. Never Armond. To read this essential book of criticism is to understand why he turned the tide and went into his crackpot right-wing period—and he STILL runs circles around the competition. Tarantino had Kael as his go-to critic when making motion pictures (oy vey); I’ll have Armond, please and thank you (and Farber and Haskell and Kam Collins and Rosenbaum and Sarris and Kehr, etc etc etc). Those who profess an interest in how we got to our current fascist moment (as well as an interest in pop, film, music, music videos) would do well to study their Armond. Do I agree with everything he writes, of course fucking not. He has no idea what to do with Julie Dash, for one. That’s his right. That’s not the point with a good critic. Makes you want to clarify your position yourself, makes you want to think. Bless the dude, may he live long and prosper—and I say this seriously knowing everything he professes to officially stand for today is morally and politically repugnant to me. But if he taught me anything it’s to mistrust the official narrative. And also to embrace the word “chockablock.”