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I first heard Dessa sing on the podcast I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats. She covered the song Balance, transforming it into an eerie Bond theme that I couldn't stop listening to. I looked for more of her music and found an incredible lyricist and genre bending artist who swings from rap to pop to ballad and back again (sometimes in the same song). I saw her live in 2018(?) and she was AMAZING. Even if you haven't heard her work, you've probably heard her voice: she sang Congratulations on the Hamilton Mixtape. So when I heard that she wrote a book, I knew without question that I had to read it. My Own Devices is a memoir in essays where Dessa explores her relationship with her parents, her mental health, and her coming of age as an artist. The book centers on Dessa's fraught relationship with her on-again, off-again partner - who also happens to be someone she writes, performs, and travels with. Their relationship is inextricably tied up with her relationship with music. Having already listened to her TED Talk (linked in my bio), I wasn't surprised by what was coming, but I was utterly absorbed by the telling. You don't have to be a fan of hers to get something out of this book - the writing alone is worth picking it up. via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/CDtd-9ggE--/