Understanding Octavia E. Butler

"Kendra R. Parker's compassionate, well-researched, and accessible discussion of Octavia E. Butler's progression as a writer and contributions to different literary genres makes Understanding Octavia E. Butler a 'worthy eulogy' to one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. Parker's discussion shows us why Butler's homegoing was a great loss for humanity and this book is a must read for Butler newcomers, fans, and scholars."—Jerry Rafiki Jenkins, University of Georgia, author of Anti-Blackness and Human Monstrosity in Black American Horror Fiction

"A triumph of archival research . . . Understanding Octavia E. Butler may be as close as we can get to hearing Butler's life story in her own words"—Gerry Canavan, Marquette University, author of Octavia E. Butler (2016)