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A review by lanidacey
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
3.0
IDK. Maybe I went in with my expectations too high. I'd read a blurb that compared this book to [b:The Sellout|22237161|The Sellout|Paul Beatty|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403430899l/22237161._SX50_.jpg|41610676] (which I adore!) and was ready to fall in love with it.
But this book is no The Sellout. While the humor in that book felt easy and fresh, Black Buck felt like it was trying too hard to make jokes that stand-up comics have already made for decades. Every time some white dude compared Darren to a random Black celebrity I wanted to beat my head with my computer. This joke is so tired. Please let it rest. Similarly, the jokes about millennial corporate culture are also equally overdone. White CEOs in jeans and T-shirts. Pets in the office. Open office layout with glass walls. I don't even have a copy of the book on me to verify all this is mentioned; I just know. (I didn't enjoy the humor of this book, but the author's creation of Sumwun, the startup Darren goes to work for is perfect. The unnecessary service they provide, their marketing copy, the SPELLING! Amazing. I wish the rest of the humor was this on point. I would have loved it.)
Another issue is with the pacing. If you read the synopsis, this book is supposed to be about a young, unambitious barista who, after making it big in sales, works to pull others like him up the corporate ladder. And that does happen! But we don't even reach that plot point — arguably the main focus of the novel — until the 60 percent mark. As a result, the final third of the book goes at a break-neck pace as it rushes to tie everything together. I don't want to spoil, but things go off the wall. I would have enjoyed this book and its ridiculous twists so much more had it allowed these things to develop and occur more thoroughly.
Despite all these issues, there were things I liked about this book. Yes, it's very heavy handed with its message, but it's a message that's worth slapping people in the face with. I liked the characters, specifically Jason and the Happy Campers. (Darren himself I can pass on. He's bland, tbh, and kind of a jackass, even when he's supposed to be repentant.)
A good debut that I would have enjoyed more had I not gone into it expecting Paul Beatty's wit.
But this book is no The Sellout. While the humor in that book felt easy and fresh, Black Buck felt like it was trying too hard to make jokes that stand-up comics have already made for decades. Every time some white dude compared Darren to a random Black celebrity I wanted to beat my head with my computer. This joke is so tired. Please let it rest. Similarly, the jokes about millennial corporate culture are also equally overdone. White CEOs in jeans and T-shirts. Pets in the office. Open office layout with glass walls. I don't even have a copy of the book on me to verify all this is mentioned; I just know. (I didn't enjoy the humor of this book, but the author's creation of Sumwun, the startup Darren goes to work for is perfect. The unnecessary service they provide, their marketing copy, the SPELLING! Amazing. I wish the rest of the humor was this on point. I would have loved it.)
Another issue is with the pacing. If you read the synopsis, this book is supposed to be about a young, unambitious barista who, after making it big in sales, works to pull others like him up the corporate ladder. And that does happen! But we don't even reach that plot point — arguably the main focus of the novel — until the 60 percent mark. As a result, the final third of the book goes at a break-neck pace as it rushes to tie everything together. I don't want to spoil, but things go off the wall. I would have enjoyed this book and its ridiculous twists so much more had it allowed these things to develop and occur more thoroughly.
Despite all these issues, there were things I liked about this book. Yes, it's very heavy handed with its message, but it's a message that's worth slapping people in the face with. I liked the characters, specifically Jason and the Happy Campers. (Darren himself I can pass on. He's bland, tbh, and kind of a jackass, even when he's supposed to be repentant.)
A good debut that I would have enjoyed more had I not gone into it expecting Paul Beatty's wit.