Last weekend, Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters hit theaters, blowing a breath of fresh air into the American cinema. Riley, the funkmaster filmmaker behind 2018’s Sorry to Bother You, is best known for a highly gonzo, “socialist surrealist” aesthetic. And just like his first film, Boosters takes the prospect of scrambling to make a living in America to absurd extremes.
I caught the film this weekend and left all fizzy, with my imagination firing on all cylinders. And what better to do with a great vibe than keep it going?
Here are seven books that I Love Boosters brought to mind.
Paul Beatty, The Sellout
As my personal king Richard Brody observed in The New Yorker, I Love Boosters is concerned with both color and color. In its madcap way, the film explores how fashion is raced and subsequently appropriated. Riley’s irreverent handle on these subjects reminded me of Paul Beatty’s 2015 satire, an all-time fave.
