Tressie McMillan Cottom's Thick gathers eight essays that combine memoir, cultural criticism, and sociology to examine the experience of being a Black woman in America. McMillan Cottom, a sociologist at Virginia Commonwealth University, writes about beauty standards, the predatory for-profit college industry, the performance of Black womanhood in media, and the personal costs of professional success. The title reclaims 'thick' as a descriptor, rejecting the demand that Black women make themselves smaller to be acceptable. Each essay blends the personal and the analytical; McMillan Cottom writes from her own experience while drawing on scholarship and data. She addresses the reader directly, with humor and sharp intelligence. The essays were occasioned by specific events but transcend topicality; they concern enduring questions about how bodies are read, how institutions work, and how people survive systems designed against them. Thick was a finalist for the National Book Award and established McMillan Cottom as one of the most important public intellectuals of her generation. Her prose is accessible without sacrificing nuance; she writes for both academic and general audiences. Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary cultural criticism or the intersection of race, gender, and class.