No Sense in Wishing

Essays

By: Lawrence Burney

Narrated by: Lawrence Burney

A BEST BOOK OF 2025: The New Yorker • Vulture • Kirkus Reviews

“Earnest and engaging.” —The New Yorker
“Among the most profound and dazzling debuts I've ever read.” —Kiese Laymon, award-winning author of Heavy: An American Memoir

An essay collection from culture critic Lawrence Burney that is a personal and analytical look at his home city of Baltimore, music from throughout the global Black diaspora, and the traditions that raised him.

There are moments throughout our lives when we discover an artist, an album, a film, or a cultural artifact that leaves a lasting impression, helping inform how we understand the world, and ourselves, moving forward. In No Sense in Wishing, Lawrence Burney explores these profound interactions with incisive and energizing prose, offering us a personal and critical perspective on the people, places, music, and art that transformed him.

In a time when music is spearheading Black Americans’ connection with Africans on The Continent, Burney takes trips to cover the bubbling creative scenes in Lagos and Johannesburg that inspire teary-eyed reflections of self and belonging. Seeing his mother perform as the opening act at a Gil Scott-Heron show as a child inspires an essay about parent-child relationships and how personal taste is often inherited. And a Maryland crab feast with family facilitates an assessment of how the Black people in his home state have historically improvised paths for their liberation.

Taking us on a journey from the streets of Baltimore to the concert halls of Lagos, No Sense in Wishing is a kaleidoscopic exploration of Burney’s search for self. With its gutsy and uncompromising criticism alongside intimate personal storytelling, it’s like an album that hits all the right notes, from a promising writer on the rise.

Thank you; this perspective was definitely needed!!!

You’ve given a voice to those raised in Baltimore! Nostalgia is an understatement; I loved it and currently waiting on your next book! Again, I say thank you! I honestly didn’t want to book to end.

Emotional Roller-coaster i enjoyed

Being from Baltimore and the same age it took me back to a time I forgot. His story was relatable and I enjoyed every minute it. Easily one of my fav reads thus far.

Personal and Affecting

Do like I did, buy the book and following along as Lawrence reads his story to you.

Adding to my list of favorite culture critics to follow

I heard an interview with him and was drawn to his descriptions of the Baltimore I grew up up in - although a generation earlier -and miss and try to make sense of ever since. While this drew me in and did not disappoint - especially his connections to the Bloc photos and the struggles of music success (outside of house in Baltimore and go go in DC) really hit as did that desire to cover the accent when leaving town when young - an accent that felt like home and family in his audio. And then as he expanded it into the motherland and discoveries there and the way the music ties through it all as he discussed and discovered with friends old and new. I leave this with a big read/watch list - girlhood movie, revisiting the hidden colors films (despite Dr Umar) and listening to Nigerian Afrobeats (with prayers to them today as I read about the inexplicable and cruel attacks our country is enacting on Christmas). Thank you for this gift!