The following version of this short story was used to create this study guide: Smith, Zadie. "Crazy They Call Me." The New Yorker, 6, March 2017. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/06/crazy-they-call-me

Note that parenthetical citations refer to the paragraph in which the quote appears in the story.

"Crazy They Call Me" opens with an unnamed speaker addressing an unnamed subject, explaining that the subject does not go anywhere anymore without being fully dressed and made-up. The subject must do this to keep up appearances so as not to be mistaken "for that broken, misused little girl: Eleanora Fagan" (1). At this point, readers familiar with the singer will recognize the subject as Billie Holiday, the famous jazz and blues singer from the early twentieth century. While the speaker remains unnamed, the second-person narration and the intimacy with which she speaks of the singer's dress, jewelry, and opinions suggests that the speaker is Billie Holiday speaking to herself at a later point in her career.

As the story continues, the speaker reflects on some of her past performances and the people who have praised them, including the wife of her Italian landlord and passers-by on 110th street in New York City. From there, the speaker launches into a bit of a non sequitur as she reflects on the fact that she does not get along with other women. She chalks this up to her "freedom" compared to most women who are married and have children (3), and ultimately decides she is better off with fewer women in her life and more men to help protect her (4).

The speaker then imagines a night of one of her performances, fantasizing that she keeps singing long after service has stopped and most people have gone home. She imagines that she returns home to her dog, whom she loves more than any man because "a dog don't cheat, a dog don't lie" (6). She notes that she and her dog are "soul mates" and cites an experience she had had in which she was "floating" and the only thing that could bring her back to life was her dog (6).

Again, the story pivots as the speaker asserts that she "can be the most wonderful aunt, godmother, nursemaid, when the mood takes you" (7). She acknowledges her ability to make everyone, even children, smile and enjoy themselves, and says that she would always stay longer to perform but "you've got bills to pay" (7). This statement reminds her of the "businessmen" who follow her around, her "chaperons," whom she finds unnecessary because she has always gotten to her performances safely and on time (8). Her timeliness comes despite the fact that it takes her hours to get made-up appropriately, using her makeup as a "death mask" to paint "the border between them and you" (9).

As the story winds to a close, the speaker explains what it is like to perform for a live audience, comparing the experience to throwing a set of pearls at a room full of swine (10). She notes specifically that her song "Strange Fruit" is one that not many people will be able to understand, as it is so encased with pain that she never sings another song after it (10). Finally, the speaker expresses her resentment over the fact that people never ask her questions about herself, but are rather much more concerned with the celebrity, "as you appear in these songs" (11). She recycles a number of successive questions she is often asked, only to dismiss them. The story ends with her recounting a time she almost answered a question about her inability to read music with, "Motherfucker I AM music" but admits that she never said it, as it was not ladylike (12).