Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta
by James Hannaham
Why read it
It is a riotous, sharp, and deeply empathetic modern odyssey about Carlotta Mercedes, a Black Colombian trans woman navigating her first few days of parole in Brooklyn after serving more than twenty years in a men's prison. Driven by Carlotta's unforgettable, razor-witted interior monologue, the story delivers an electric balance of biting satire, family tension, and profound resilience as she reckons with an unrecognizably gentrified city and the lingering weight of the carceral system.
Where to get it
In the Netherlands, you can stream or purchase the unabridged English audiobook—wonderfully performed by Flame Monroe alongside the author James Hannaham—on platforms like Audible, Kobo, Storytel, Apple Books, and Google Play Audiobooks. For digital reading, e-books are widely available via Kobo, Bol.com, and the Amazon NL Kindle store. If you prefer print or checking locally, physical and digital English editions can often be ordered through major Dutch booksellers like Athenaeum Boekhandel, Scheltema, Waterstones Amsterdam, or borrowed through the Dutch public library system (de Bibliotheek / onlinebibliotheek.nl).
What to expect
Expect a fast-moving, darkly humorous, and voice-driven stream of consciousness that echoes classic wandering-city epics with contemporary urgency. The tone is raucous and irreverent yet grounded in serious emotional stakes. It is moderately demanding due to rapid shifts between close third-person narrative and unfiltered inner monologue, along with heavy dialect and vernacular. Content notes: frank depictions and discussions of sexual assault, transphobia, misgendering, prison violence, solitary confinement, drug use, and systemic racism.
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