Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

Chambers (The Meaning of Michelle) collects 19 insightful essays celebrating the cultural power of Beyoncé. Contributors— academics, designers, and journalists among them—each address different aspects of the singer’s fame, glamour, and political savvy. In “Getting, Giving, and Leaving,” political scientist Melissa Harris-Perry compares Beyoncé’s notion of feminism to that of privileged white women, writing “Beyoncé FEMINISM is to Becky feminism what purple is to lavender.” For designer Maria Brito in “The Art of Being Beyoncé,” the performer has “found a way to give new meaning to the power of the image.” Elodie Maillet Storm, who works for Getty Images, sees Beyoncé as both social media influencer and “a woman and artist” able to exist without “wanting or needing permission.” In “All Her Single Ladies,” Kid Fury highlights Beyoncé’s importance to him as a gay man: “I felt embraced.” The writers in this collection all agree on one thing: Beyoncé is a “reflection of power and possibility,” Chambers writes, for black women and for all those who feel marginalized by mainstream culture. Entertaining and illuminating, this essay collection will please readers no matter their Beyoncé fan status level. (Mar.)