GOD-LEVEL KNOWLEDGE DARTS

Two Bronx natives with their own popular talk show offer a street-smart guide to modern-day survival.

In 2013, Desus Nice (Daniel Baker) and The Kid Mero (Joel Martinez) created a show that was unlike anything else on TV: two very funny guys riffing from a black and Latinx perspective with guests like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Don Cheadle, and the Wu-Tang Clan. In their literary debut, Desus and Mero deliver a series of back-and-forth debates (“a fat sack of truth nuggets, a journey inside the minds of myself and Mero”) about such topics as masculinity, dating, drugs, and the criminal justice system. The format can be jarring at first—Mero is the wild card, unleashing his stream-of-consciousness lessons in ALL CAPS, including an introduction informing us exactly how much he cares what readers think. Desus is the straight man, often interpreting Mero’s insights or current condition: “Mero’s high,” he explains. “Not like, ‘Hey, I’m kinda fucked up but I’m all good.’ No. If you think you know people who get high, you’ve never met Mero.” Obviously, their advice must be taken with a grain of salt. Wearing good running shoes if you’re going to shoplift makes sense, but having your friend rob you and your date to save money probably isn’t the best idea. Besides being consistently funny, there are a few salient points about life “growing up brown in NYC,” such as Desus’ observation that he sees the NYPD as “just another rival gang, except they had permission to use their guns, so best to just avoid them altogether.” For advice on how to live when you’re broke or what it means to be “washed,” there’s both wisdom and hilarity here. The authors close with a Q&A speed round on porn, sneakers, and death, among other topics of interest.

A poetically profane, verbally adroit guide to life by two jokers who are smarter than they act.