Cover Image: Black Buck

Black Buck

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Darren Venders works at Starbucks. He has a simple life, living with his mom and enjoying his time with his girlfriend Soraya and serving coffee to his customers. When he pitches a different flavour to Rhett Daniels, the CEO of an up and coming startup Sumwun, he realizes that his life is never going to be same afterwards. Because he has a special talent in making people change their minds. And Rhett is absolutely intent on making him join his company. Many 'Wolf of Wall Street' like capers and one or two tragedies later, Darren, now known as Buck, realizes that the new life is changing him. So he decides to make use of his talent and bring more black people to this predominantly white company. He trains his friends and their friends and before he knows it, they come under the radar of the media and other companies and of course, white people who are insecure about their places getting filled with people of colour.
This book was fun to read. The narrator wrote it in a format that is like a memoir and also a kind of sales guide where he breaks the fourth wall and talks to the readers. The first half was really good. But the second half was at times a bit much. Too many things happened too fast and it was difficult to catch up. But overall this is was an enjoyable read. Fast. Fun. And of course, it has its teaching moments. Which is very important. Give it a try!

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I had really high hopes for this book. The idea of a book exploring how people of color are treated within the business world was very intriguing. But, I just didn't love how this was executed. I understand that this is meant to be satire but I think some of the jokes and massaging were just a little over-the-top and in your face. Honestly, some of the jokes in this were just cringeworthy and seemed to do the opposite of what they were intended for.

I also had a hard time suspending disbelief and accepting that someone's personality and morals could change so quickly. I understand that the loss of a loved one and the subsequent grief of that can completely derail someone's life but this book just seemed to take all of that to an extreme.
I also despised the way that all of the women in this book were treated.

The book wasn't terrible which is why I still gave it 3 stars but honestly it could have been done much better.

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I really liked this one, even though I wasn’t sure if I would at first. It’s a very satirical look at corporate America, which being a corporate drop out, I really enjoyed. I also thought this did a really great job of showing the obstacles and racism that a young, Black man faces in the corporate world.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and especially the surprises and twists towards the end.

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I really enjoyed this book - super reminiscent of Wolf of Wall Street and other stories, but I felt it dipped too far into satire towards the end. Loved the plot twist with Buck's "penthouse". Great view also of how some companies use minorities to their advantage.

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Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an ARC in exchange for an honest review,

Like Colson Whitehead, Paul Beatty, et al before him Mateo Askaripour riffs deep on the scourge of systemic racism in society. Satirically speaking, this is as witty as a book I’ve read when broaching the topic. Darren Vender, the uninspiring young urban black man working as a Starbucks barista; uneducated as higher degrees go, unmotivated to do so and still living at home which is not atypical save for the reason. He spends his days serving people, but ONE particular customer changes his life or vice versa you might say. Darren Vender makes the titanic leap into the corporate world improbably and virtually every racial stereotype in the private sector is mocked. Racial discrimination in the workplace, affirmative action, “reverse racism”, racial bias in hiring, token blackism, you name it, it’s in there, farcically. And as the genius of Askaripour unfolds, you realize that when the laugh-out-loud moments begin to quiet down and Darren Vender’s pendulum swings back from iconic status to back-to-earth, you’re left with a slight tinny aftertaste in your mouth. A trickle of blood from biting it to try and repress the truth in the writing. The stunningly disparate numbers of POC in positions of leadership for Fortune 500 companies, or positions of management or ownership in professional sports despite attempts to promote it like the Rooney Rule in the NFL. And suddenly WUSS isn’t so outlandish, beyond the pale or funny for that matter. POC have always been a step behind at the starting line. James Baldwin, Mateo Askaripour, stunningly direct, allegorical, the message is the same—corporate racism is the same tree, different branch.

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I really enjoyed this take on sales and race relations. It made me think, yet was sarcastic and far-fetched enough to not be overly serious. My only problem was deciding the time period, 1990s? 2000s?

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The author says he wants all people to be successful but his treatment of women is very poor. How women were treated by the protagonist. It’s very obvious the author is a man because of the roles that the women characters were regulated in: either sexualized or matronly. Both archetypes were there to “teach” the protagonist and used to further his journey without the characters actually having much of a story on their own. For a book that is supposed to tackle black and POC’s experiences within corporate culture, the absence of women's perspectives shows just one of the industry’s many core issues that were not explored in the book. Let's start with the main character, Darren, the titular Black Buck. The nickname Buck refers to his job at Starbucks, meant to degrade him, but it's a name he comes to own and associate with his success. The first half of Black Buck is an ego trip where any and everyone around Darren, including random strangers, tell him how amazing he is. On the one hand, Darren humbly questions his capabilities whenever someone tells him he deserves more or better. On the other, Darren is sometimes angry to the point of near violence when his skills are questioned. There are several instances throughout the story where Darren's thoughts and actions seem to be at odds; he comes across as disingenuous and untrustworthy, which I don't think was Askaripour's intention. A very obvious debut. Black Buck was not satirical, but sloppy. He is the only fan of himself the derogatory terms and comments about himself and others is a real put off. I would not recommend for sure.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review for honest feedback.

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Black Buck is so funny it hurts. Because it's true. The absurdities seem so unrealistic, however for Black Americans that work in the current tech trends and booms, very little rings untrue.

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Black Buck is an engaging and fast-paced read about a young Black man in a company where he is the only Black man in training and he has to decide how to proceed. Does he give up and walk away after a training week full of discrimination? Or does he decide to be the best that he can be in sales as the only Black salesperson? He chooses wisely and gets the most from his situation.
The most intriguing thing about how this book was written is its ability to tell the story but to also illustrate a way in sales for all people, particularly POC, who might find themselves in a similar situation.
Really readable and great character development.
Recommend!
#BlackBuck #NetGalley #HoughtonMifflinHarcourt

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A young Blackman, Darren (aka: Buck), working at Starbucks get propositioned with a shot at a new career in sales for a fresh start-up company. Buck takes the job, suffers through a rigorous training period, and then flourishes into on the companies very best salesman. This satirical representation of modern day corporate America is riddled with racism, misogyny, and gaslighting. Buck’s story takes some real wild turns as he battles with his ideas of success, ambition, and community.

Sincere thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I found this book confusing and found myself bored and uninterested. I can understand why this was such a hit for others, but it really did not do it for me.

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Darren, a 22-year old with a beautiful girlfriend, loving mother and a job he enjoys lives in his own apartment in his mom’s brownstone enjoying the proximity and his independence. Some would say the former high school valedictorian who didn’t go to college is an underachiever and is wasting his talents because, for the last 4 years, he’s been content to work at Starbucks as a “masterful” supervisory barista. But Darren is happy and loves his life and says he’s waiting for the RIGHT opportunity to come along. That opportunity arrives when a customer notices Darren’s potential and hires him as a salesman for a virtual therapy company. In spite of racially insensitive hazing, Darren soon becomes a success. But at what cost? As he drinks the company Kool-aid, Darren’s friends and family see him change in frightening and disappointing ways. Darren doesn’t see it that way.

This book is satire illustrating in an exaggerated way the type of workplace racism black people face. Darren compartmentalizes it and views it as part of the landscape he must navigate to prove that he can compete, win, and get what he wants. The book includes outrageous micro-agressions. His mentor nicknames him “Buck,” both because he’s a former Starbucks employee and because he knows Darren will make a million bucks. But we all are familiar with the “black buck” stereotype ladled onto African American men. Also, in his all white environment, Darren is told by almost every white person he meets that he reminds them of some famous black person — from MLK Jr to Sidney Poitier to Morgan Freeman. Now, we ALL know those men don’t look anything alike.

Black Buck is an interesting, funny, and at times sad coming of age story that raises many questions. What price will you pay for success? Is upward mobility really “upward” in a spiritual and moral sense?

Black Buck has received TONS of accolades and is heralded as a “Best” for 2021 fiction. Deservedly so.
Thank you, NetGalley for an advance copy.

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This book was not what I was expecting! A satirical look at race and class with many twists and turns at the end. The story follows Darren on his rise to salesmen stardom when he up sells a cup of coffee to Rhett, the founder of a new start up. From the very beginning the racism both covert and outright that Darren, nicknamed Buck, face are front and center. Given the real life events of this last year, this felt poingnant, satire aside. The first half of the book was captivating. Clyde was the overt and delusional white suprematist while Rhett was the more insidious type of racism that white people don’t even recognize. The middle of the book kind of lost but I got roped back in with all the twists at the end.

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This book is so vivid in terms of characters, plot, and the capitalism and social inequity in our world. I was blown away by Mateo Askaripour's writing and Buck's journey, the good and the bad. This is certainly a book that is so much more than its summary. I highly recommend diving in and being blown away.

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This book had me from page 1 - I was all in. I worked at Starbucks when I was in university and so much of that culture and daily routine resonated with me based on people I knew and customers I had, and when the narrative moved away from that space, I was already so invested in the characters and language that I wasn't sorry to see it go.

This book was uncomfortable to read a lot of the time, and I don't typically enjoy watching a beloved character make "bad" decisions, but in this case I could so easily see why it was happening and how it was rooted in the horribly racist environment he was working in. As things were coming apart for our protagonist, I couldn't help but root for him and assume that we would see him work everything out.

The writing and dialogue in this book was bananas good to top it all off. Such an immersive and plotty book that doesn't skimp on authentic character development. Highly recommended.

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Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour is a book that is just buzzing with electricity! When we first meet Darren, he is a Starbucks manager in NYC with close-knit family/friends. He’s incredibly bright, but never really reached his potential, preferring to be a big fish in a small pond vs. taking real risks. He gets recruited to a sales team for a rising start-up app SumWun that provides individuals with someone to talk to at any time. He falls in with its enigmatic CEO and quickly becomes a rising star within the company. Through his meteoric rise I had no idea where the story would go. Black Buck is satire and some of the references made my mouth drop and made me laugh out loud. I loved how surprising some of these elements were, touching on race, masculinity, sales, etc. The pacing is really good and I love how Darren’s/Buck’s character changes and grows. I listened to the audiobook, which was masterfully narrated by Zeno Robinson. I loved how his voice captured the energy of the book. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like this novel, and it was so well-done!

Thank you Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

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kinda loved this one. really interesting satire that looks at race and class and tech bro culture. I actually listened to this one on audio and thought the narrator did a fantastic job. Is it perfect...no. it goes a little off the rails in the back half, but ultimately I enjoyed a lot about it.

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Benjamin Franklin once said, "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."
Perhaps author Mateo Askaripour missed the "or" in Ben Franklin's quote when he chose to do both. He wrote the dark satire, Black Buck, that is worth reading and also is worthy of writing about his activism and raising awareness for organizations like Defy Ventures.
Black Buck is the story of 22 year old, Darren Vender, former valedictorian at Bronx Science High School, still living in the Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother. Darren chose to enter the workforce after high school rather than the traditional college route.
Now a shift supervisor at a Park Avenue Starbucks, Darren is the perfect employee; hard-working, committed, likable and a great salesman. Art Turock once said, "There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you're committed to something, you except no excuses, just result." That quote was featured on the back of a Starbucks cup but describes Darren to a tee.
Darren has dreams and aspirations of making it big, he just needs one person to give him a shot.
Enter Rhett Daniels, good-looking, rich, white and CEO of tech start-up company, SUNWUM. Rhett offers Darren that shot with an entry-level sales job in his company.
There is where author Askaripour shines as he writes of the treatment black Darren, now called Buck, receives from the all-white sales team at SUNWUM. He doesn't trivialize Darrens experiences or sugarcoat the characters actions,
This maybe a work of fiction but this dark satire is all too real for people of color. The racist stereotypes are rampant and the challenges that people of color must overcome may be shocking to some but it is profoundly sad to see how far we have to go to have a more diverse work force in America.
Mateo's book while full of humor and sadness, is a cautionary tale of that slippery slope when we don't learn from the lessons that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to teach us, "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #BlackBuck

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"I didn’t want to start my career, especially as the only Black person in the room, as some wind-up monkey that would bang his cymbals whenever white people wanted him to.”

This!!!!

As someone who has been the only Black person in an all white office environment, I definitely related to this book as far as the frustration goes of being in that position goes. It felt like being under a microscope at all times and I had to conduct myself a certain way at all times while others didn’t. Also dealing with stereotypes. I’ll never forget the look on their faces when they found out I attended Catholic school. 🙃

The story is told in five parts. I really enjoyed the first three parts. Part four lost me a little not going to lie. Part 5 was buck wild (see what I did there) and I didn’t expect that ending at all!!
This was a solid debut and I’m highly anticipating Askaripour next novel.
This quote took me out clean.

“If you’re a black man, the key to any white person’s heart is the ability to shuck, jive or freestyle. But use it wisely and sparingly. Otherwise you’re liable to turn into Steve Harvey.”

Deceased.

CW: One of the main characters calls the workers the “r” word.

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That is not what I was expecting from this story. The entire time I’m listening to this, I’m thinking what a ridiculous work environment and how is this going to set anyone up for success? And then I get a bombed dropped on me. This went so much deeper and so much more corrupt than I was expecting.

Black Buck explores the modern American work force, racism, and our severely lacking justice system all in one novel. The author also goes into depth with consequences in regards to your choices, posing a great question of where do you see yourself and how are you going to get there while also being mindful of your actions and how they make an impact, whether it be an impact on yourself or others?

On another note completely unrelated to the content of the novel or story, this cover is so eye catching! I really love it.

<i> I received an electronic copy of this novel prior to release from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

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