The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

2022 Monáe, Janelle [Robinson] (b. 1985). The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer. New York: Harper Voyager. The book begins with Monáe’s “Introduction: Breaking Dawn” (ix-xi). There are then four chapters written by Monáe and a co-author: “The Memory Librarian” (1-81) with Alaya Dawn Johnson; “Nevermind” (82-163) with Danny Lore; “Timebox” (164-202) with Eve L[ouise] Ewing; “Save Changes” (203-255) with Yohanca Delgado; and “Timebox Altar[ed]” (256-313) with Sheree Renée Thomas. 313 pp. Public

The novel is set in a surveillance dystopia in which memories are surveilled and forcibly erased if unacceptable to regime. Significant concerns with race and gender of all varieties. All of the issues are seen through a variety of lenses. A Dirty Computer is an android who refuses to abide by the rules of the authoritarian society in which they live and subject to “cleaning” or having their memories removed. They originated with Monáe’s 2018 album Dirty Computer. The album was followed by the 2018 film Dirty Computer that can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdH2Sy-BlNE&ab_channel=JanelleMon%C3%A1e. For full credits, see https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8343642/fullcredits. The film was a finalist for the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. Monáe is African American female author, as are Ewing, Johnson, and Thomas; Delgado was born in the United States of parents from Cuba and the Dominican Republic; Lore is a queer African American author who uses the pronouns they/their.