"Each one teach one, bruh."
Black Buck is the story of Darren, a young black man from Bed-Stuy, who gets the opportunity of a lifetime to be a salesman at a startup tech company in Manhattan called Sumwun with all the Wolf of Wall Street vibes. Sumwun is where he gets the nickname 'Buck', it's his sales name. Catch is, he's the only person of color in a sea of white and it's not something that can be ignored. He goes through some super rough times there because of a super closeted racist prick but also ends up changing into kind of an ass for a bit causing him to ruin a few close relationships, one in particular that ends up screwing him over hard. Ultimately Darren stumbles into his own business endeavor, spreading his sales knowledge to people of color and giving them opportunities that otherwise would not have been available to them.
But that's just a general quick summary of the basics. Black Buck has a lot of levels and depth that I really admire the author, Mateo Askaripour, for developing. I felt so many strong emotions while reading this very impactful novel. I was often frustrated and appalled but there were sprinkles of adoration and glee mixed in as well. Mateo really knows how to make ones blood boil and head explode in disbelief at the same time and create incredibly sad moments that left me feeling a bit choked up. Whether good or bad, I was constantly made to feel something and I loved every minute of it.
This was immensely solid writing of fiction disguised as a self help book (or maybe the other way around) written by Darren himself. There are advice blurbs addressed directly to the reader in each chapter which emphasizes the motivational speaker/self-help book feel. And even though this is a work of fiction, it is 100% based on reality as a black person in the business world and in America in general. Some of the wildest shit you will ever read when it comes to race and audacity is within these pages and on the basis of that alone I would recommend this book. The brilliant and entertaining plot, the shocking end, the solid characters, main and secondary, are all also just the tip of the iceberg on why this a must read novel. To say Black Buck is an inspiration is an understatement.
"Once you learn to sell, to truly sell, anything is possible."
~Darren 'Buck' Vender
Black Buck is the story of Darren, a young black man from Bed-Stuy, who gets the opportunity of a lifetime to be a salesman at a startup tech company in Manhattan called Sumwun with all the Wolf of Wall Street vibes. Sumwun is where he gets the nickname 'Buck', it's his sales name. Catch is, he's the only person of color in a sea of white and it's not something that can be ignored. He goes through some super rough times there because of a super closeted racist prick but also ends up changing into kind of an ass for a bit causing him to ruin a few close relationships, one in particular that ends up screwing him over hard. Ultimately Darren stumbles into his own business endeavor, spreading his sales knowledge to people of color and giving them opportunities that otherwise would not have been available to them.
But that's just a general quick summary of the basics. Black Buck has a lot of levels and depth that I really admire the author, Mateo Askaripour, for developing. I felt so many strong emotions while reading this very impactful novel. I was often frustrated and appalled but there were sprinkles of adoration and glee mixed in as well. Mateo really knows how to make ones blood boil and head explode in disbelief at the same time and create incredibly sad moments that left me feeling a bit choked up. Whether good or bad, I was constantly made to feel something and I loved every minute of it.
This was immensely solid writing of fiction disguised as a self help book (or maybe the other way around) written by Darren himself. There are advice blurbs addressed directly to the reader in each chapter which emphasizes the motivational speaker/self-help book feel. And even though this is a work of fiction, it is 100% based on reality as a black person in the business world and in America in general. Some of the wildest shit you will ever read when it comes to race and audacity is within these pages and on the basis of that alone I would recommend this book. The brilliant and entertaining plot, the shocking end, the solid characters, main and secondary, are all also just the tip of the iceberg on why this a must read novel. To say Black Buck is an inspiration is an understatement.
"Once you learn to sell, to truly sell, anything is possible."
~Darren 'Buck' Vender