Black Buck: A Novel
A New York Times Bestseller
A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize "Askaripour closes the deal on the first page of this mesmerizing novel, executing a high wire act full of verve and dark, comic energy."
--Colson Whitehead, author of The Nickel Boys "A hilarious, gleaming satire as radiant as its author. Askaripour has announced himself as a major talent of the school of Ralph Ellison, Paul Beatty, Fran Ross, and Ishmael Reed. Full of quick pacing, frenetic energy, absurd--yet spot on--twists and turns, and some of the funniest similes I've ever read, this novel is both balm and bomb."
--Nafissa Thompson-Spires, author of Heads of the Colored People For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street--a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems. There's nothing like a Black salesman on a mission. An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother's home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC's hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor. After enduring a "hell week" of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as "Buck," a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he's hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America's sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game. Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America's workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.
A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize "Askaripour closes the deal on the first page of this mesmerizing novel, executing a high wire act full of verve and dark, comic energy."
--Colson Whitehead, author of The Nickel Boys "A hilarious, gleaming satire as radiant as its author. Askaripour has announced himself as a major talent of the school of Ralph Ellison, Paul Beatty, Fran Ross, and Ishmael Reed. Full of quick pacing, frenetic energy, absurd--yet spot on--twists and turns, and some of the funniest similes I've ever read, this novel is both balm and bomb."
--Nafissa Thompson-Spires, author of Heads of the Colored People For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street--a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems. There's nothing like a Black salesman on a mission. An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother's home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC's hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor. After enduring a "hell week" of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as "Buck," a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he's hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America's sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game. Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America's workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.
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Community Reviews
Inspired the film Sorry to Bother You (love books turned films)! Fun, light reading on the perils of being the token in a startup corporation and how hard and lonely the climb (or in this case the push) to the top is. Some parts felt rushed but overall a comfortable ride. Pick it up if you need to get yourself back into reading or just need something simple to offset another heavy read.
There's nothing like a black man on a mission... No, let me revise that. There's nothing like a black salesman on a mission. He's Superman, Spiderman, Batman and any other supernatural paranormal or otherwise god-like combination of blood, flesh and brains. He can't die. Don't believe me?
Darren has never been very ambitious. He's a young black man, whose job at Starbucks affords him a low-stress life with plenty of time to do whatever he wants in his free time. When he is recruited to be a salesperson for a BetterHelp-like company, his happy low-key life is turned on its ear. To the detriment of his personal morals, values, and relationships, Darren sacrifices everything in the name of success. But what price is too high?
This book gave me similar vibes to The Other Black Girl (which I didn't like) and Yellowface (which I did like). It was infuriating and funny and over the top and thought-provoking.
If you are a person of colour who works in or has worked in the Corporate World (regardless of whether in Sales or otherwise), you can probably relate to this a lot. If you have been chewed up and spit out by the rat race, you might find something here. But if you don't like satire and can't get past the ultra-exaggerated nature of the genre, you may have an issue with this. Also, if you are a power-hungry racist who sees nothing wrong with exploitation for capital gain, this may be an uncomfortable read.
I enjoyed this book. I didn't know how I would like it but I was surprised. I enjoyed the tips he included and I even enjoyed the pace of the book. I was waiting for the ball to drop.
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