Memoir of a Hyena Book Release Party

A book release party for Sean Kennerly's Memoir of a Hyena at P.I.T., featuring readings and performances by Hallie Elizabeth Newton, Rob Bryn, Dread, and Kennerly himself.

Memoir of a Hyena follows one spotted hyena through a brief and difficult life in the shadow of his sister's rise to power — marginalized by his own family, caught in the crossfire of clan politics, searching for meaning across the vast Tanzanian steppe. In his unsparing self-evaluation, he finds insight and hope. But will that hope be weaponized against him?

The framing device earns its conceit: spotted hyenas are among the most misunderstood animals on earth — long thought hermaphroditic, actually matriarchal, as intelligent as chimpanzees, and far more complex hunters than their scavenger reputation suggests. Kennerly uses all of it.