Dessa isn’t very well known. In fact, she’s hardly known at all, and what little fame she does have comes from her music––indie hip-hop and rap known for its complex, metaphorical lyrics––and not her essays. However, her recently published memoir, My Own Devices, is a perfect example of why her prose deserves to be as appreciated as her songwriting. The book is a collection of essays that are all funny, thoughtful, and well-written—and at the same time tie beautifully into an overarching plot.

My Own Devices contains stories about many different aspects of Dessa’s life, from her father building a glider from scratch when she was a child to the time she wrote a letter to Geico requesting insurance for her melancholy disposition—the thing that makes her successful, as all of her songs are torch songs. However, overall the memoir documents her struggles with her unresolved feelings for her ex-boyfriend, who she refers to throughout the novel as X. The memoir even has a climax of sorts, as she discovers a way to solve her problem. The essays that are not about her relationship with X discuss various experiences such as her surprisingly deep reflections on the impact one leaves upon the world, inspired by seeing Sleep No More, a modern rendition of Macbeth.

Dessa’s writing is, quite simply, superb. It is witty, thoughtful, and often quite funny. Metaphors are abundant in her writing, but none of them feel forced; they are incorporated very naturally, as if they are a part of her thoughts and thought process. One example that was especially well-done was, “I tried to keep my nose down, cocoon myself in my work, and trust that I’d emerge with a record that would establish me as the artist I hoped to be. Part of me, though, was afraid I’d come out of the cocoon as just an older caterpillar with high-frequency hearing loss and a nicotine patch.” She has a very unique, accessible voice that is casual yet smart and polished. “We are not allowed to land, but we are not supposed to leave. Idle circles, like a woman’s finger on a wineglass in a second-rate seduction scene.” It draws the reader inside her head, giving one a very clear idea of who Dessa is as a person—frank, an asthmatic with a sweet tooth, a lover of math and science, a little neurotic, a little melancholy, and driven by the need to achieve something big before time runs out.

One of the best parts of Dessa’s memoir is the images she paints of the people in her life, including her parents, her ex-boyfriend, her bandmates, and her brother Maxie. She draws out their strengths, their flaws, and how she has viewed them throughout her life, but more than anything else, her success in making them come alive rests on her ability to identify their defining characteristics and their small, strange quirks. When introducing her bandmate Sims, she writes, “Sims does CrossFit and has blue eyes and insanely long eyelashes that bother him because they smash against the inside of his sunglasses. He’s usually got a three-day beard and the cleanest clothes of anyone in Doomtree.” These are delightfully well-chosen details, giving the reader a very strong, specific idea of who Sims is. Dessa’s words render all of these people intimately real.

There is also a score of little tidbits scattered throughout the book that make it simply fun to read. Dessa is constantly finding funny, sometimes slightly odd things to say about everything around her, from noting that men tend to turn their baseball caps backwards upon hearing that she is a rapper, to explaining that when she was young, she grew morning glories because “a flower that could open and close and climb fences seemed at least partially self-aware.” When describing the moment she realized her mother’s real name was not Mom, she writes, from the perspective of her three-year-old self, “When my mom responded to that name, natural as could be, I began to suspect the truth—this woman had a secret, double life. We’ve known each other for almost three years and you don’t even tell me YOUR NAME? You know MY name. How long does it take to get a proper introduction?” This was such surprising, funny inner dialogue. She also mentions an experience Sims had in which he underwent an eye-opening revelation while high and wrote it down so he wouldn’t forget; in the morning when he woke up, all he had was a piece of paper that said, Water is the key to life. She explains how this has become something of an inside joke in Doomtree, and someone might say it when a band member has “an uncomfortably earnest moment.” Moments like these felt like tiny treasures that I picked up and stored in my vault of memories as I read, and made the reading experience much more enjoyable.

Dessa’s My Own Devices delivers. It is polished, smart, funny, and a pleasure to read. The writing is exquisite, the characters are well-portrayed, and though each chapter is technically a separate essay, they all tie together to make a cohesive plot. Dessa expresses thoughtful ideas and views on practically everything she comes across in her life, and her takeaways will stay with you long after you finish the book. It might be the smallest thing, just one line or one funny observation, but every person will find something memorable in this book—it won’t be long before you find yourself trying to explain “water is the key to life” to a friend during English class.