Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour – A Book Review

I love reading debut novels. Every once in a while I discover an author who not only writes entertaining books, but also one whose work pauses me to think and reflect. This is my reaction to Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour.

Plot Summary

Darren is a twenty-two year old Starbuck’s barista living in New York with his mother. Although he was class victorian, he hasn’t lived up to his potential or even attended college. One day while at work he takes a chance with a customer and is invited to interview for a sales position at a hot tech startup called Sumwun.

Upon receiving the position, he starts training in a week-long mental and emotional bootcamp aimed at leading him to sales success. Now nicknamed Buck from his previous work, Darren feels the wrath of racism during this make or break week, but he digs deep and completes this initial training. Not only is Darren successful, but he begins to climb the corporate ladder with the company quite quickly. The only problem is, as Darren invests more and more of his time working, he becomes unrecognizable to his Mom and friends. Indeed, his values had changed so much that he misses the mark completely when a succession of tragedies unfold.

Book Review

I really appreciated Black Buck and was entertained by the style it was written in. The book reads as part memoir and part how to sell anything manual. Labelled as a satire, the book only shows glimpses of this including the fact that every white person notes that he resembles a different famous black man. The book is also an emotional read, as the reader reflects upon all that Darren encounters over a very short time. What I found to be hopeful for Darren is that although he had transitioned away from his values, he was somewhat on the return to these when the story concludes. The character development for Darren was excellent and I couldn’t help but cheer him on despite some of the decisions he made.

Audiobook Review

I listened to the audiobook version of the book which was narrated by Zeno Robinson who was perfectly cast as the voice of Darren. His voice was full of animation and expression in just the right places and he had me hooked to the story right from the very beginning. Having listened to hundreds of audiobooks, this performance was a standout for me. I definitely recommend the audiobook version of this book to those who appreciate this format.

What I Liked About Black Buck

• Great character development
• It promotes pause and reflection in the reader
• It has relevant topics of race and racism.

What I Would Have Liked to be Different

• The story was a little unbelievable in the sense that so much happened over a short space of time.

I Recommend This Book To:

Anyone looking for a book to give you a better sense of awareness as to the inequality and injustice between races.

Acknowledgments