David Bowie fans will recognize the reference in the title right away: Floating in a Most Peculiar Way. But Louis Chude-Sokei's book is not about David Bowie (or Major Tom), it's about him.
And he's got plenty of stories to tell, about growing up in war-torn Biafra in Africa, about fleeing as a child to Jamaica, and about landing in Los Angeles. He learned that Blackness is not one thing, not by a long shot.
Louis now writes about fellow travelers in the African diaspora and runs the African American studies program at Boston University. He visits to talk about his experiences, and his book.