Fred Moten—academic, critic, theorist of black studies, and poet—does not like absolutes. In the preface of his Black and Blur, he warns readers that the essays “attempt a particular kind of failure, trying hard not to succeed in some final and complete determination.” Riding currents of contradiction, Moten guides readers into nuanced deeps, whether considering Shakespeare alongside Stokely Carmichael or analyzing rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard through the lens of the French philosopher Louis Althusser. At James Cohan, Moten reads from his latest poetry collection, all that beauty. —C.J.F.