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A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“An unbelievable debut, one that announces a new and necessary American voice.”—New York Times Book Review
The acclaimed debut collection from the author of Chain Gang All Stars; a piercingly raw and, at times, heartbreakingly satirical look at what it’s like to be young and Black in America.
From the start of this extraordinary debut, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s writing will grab you, haunt you, enrage and invigorate you. By placing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, Adjei-Brenyah reveals the violence, injustice, and painful absurdities that Black men and women contend with every day in this country.
These stories tackle urgent instances of racism and cultural unrest, and explore the many ways we fight for humanity in an unforgiving world.
In “The Finkelstein Five,” Adjei-Brenyah gives us an unforgettable reckoning of the brutal prejudice of our justice system.In “Zimmer Land,” we see a far-too-easy-to-believe imagining of racism as sport.“Friday Black” and “How to Sell a Jacket as Told by Ice King” show the horrors of consumerism and the toll it takes on us all.
Entirely fresh in its style and perspective, and sure to appeal to fans of Colson Whitehead, Marlon James, and George Saunders, Friday Black confronts readers with a complicated, insistent, wrenching chorus of emotions, the final note of which, remarkably, is hope.
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From the Publisher
<h3 class="a-spacing-small"> Friday Black </h3>
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<br> Publisher : Mariner Books; First Edition (October 23, 2018) <br> Language : English <br> Paperback : 208 pages <br> ISBN-10 : 1328911241 <br> ISBN-13 : 978-1328911247 <br> Item Weight : 6.4 ounces <br> Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.5 x 8 inches <br>
Customers say
Customers find the book amazing, incredible, and fun to read. They describe the writing quality as incredibly sharp and smooth. Readers praise the stories as inventive, bleak, often funny, and real. They also mention the satire is disturbing, gory, and unsettling. Additionally, they find the story thought-provoking and insightful.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
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Daniel W –
Thoroughly recommend this book to everyone and anyone who’s even remotely interested in modern American issues. And even if you’re not, what’s included is transcendent, and exposes insitutionalised racism and rampant capitalism for what they are; destructive forces.If I could rate it higher than five stars, I would. Buy this book. It deserves to be read.
Triple Sun –
Stumbled on a review of this one by chance. Recommended for readers into Ballard + social science fiction + early seasons of Black Mirror. I hope this author will stick with this format but I will read anything he’ll put out!
Carmem Swire –
Gostei muito do livro, incluÃdo pelo New York Times em uma lista de 100 livros notáveis de 2018. à a obra de estreia de Nana Kwame e tem um pique impressionante. Fala de racismo, bulliyng, afeto, convivência, etc., em contos fortes, distópicos (o que não é meu gênero preferido) e eivados de violência, latente ou explÃcita.Impressionante o conto que relata uma BLACK FRIDAY do futuro… e que dá nome ao livro. Vale muito ler.
Jessica Sims –
I zipped through this book in a matter of days because I just couldn’t put it down. You will start the story collection with the visceral and beautifully structured “The Finkelstein 5” and end with “Through the Flash,” a wholly original take on the ‘Groundhog Day’ concept. If you love dystopian fiction, if you love sci-fi, if you’ve ever worked in retail, or if you simply love a powerfully told tale, I cannot recommend this book enough. Everyone should read it.
Jochen Kröger –
Violence trash weirdly connected to racism. After a couple of pages directly to the bin.
T. Frostt –
Friday Black is a collection you should read!
âEmmanuel started learning the basics of his Blackness before he knew how to do long division: smiling when angry, whispering when he wanted to yell.âFriday Black is definitely one of my favorite collection of essays, to date. Adjei-Brenyahâs explores a number of topics ranging from racial relations in the criminal justice system, reproductive issues, gun violence in schools, and more. The vividness of his stories, create a certain realism grounded in fear and curiosity. I witnessed the library scene in Finkelstein 5, and was immersed in sorrow and lifelessness, while reading Lark Street. Over all, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection! Zimmer Land and Light Spitter are also a few of my favs!Adjei-Brenyahâs style of writing, is something to be noticed and watched out for. His writing is clear, concise, and routed in fervor. I read this book while enroute to Charlotte and then finished it driving back home, to Maryland. I literally had my two friends read the first essay, Finkelstein 5, a story about 5 young black children who are brutally murdered by a white supremacist, outside of the local library; for just being black children. Our reactions were nearly the same, side-eyeing each other, saddened, and furious with the climate of our society today. The stories felt so real in this book, it was hard to believe they werenât true. The translation of experiences throughout these stories were beautifully dark and sometimes disturbing. I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down. Definitely looking forward to reading more of his work in the near future!
JevBegen –
Overhyped, but alright
So, first, I need to confess, I am not the target audience for short stories. Especially, when they are not that great. I don’t even remember the reason why I picked up the book in the first place. Anyway, I would say that it very frontloaded with the first story then immediately drops into nonsensical mediocrity until the title short story. After that it’s a smooth sailing until the end where it leaves on a high note.
Courtney Eli –
Insightful and engaging collection
Friday Black is an incredible collection of short stories. Each world the author created was so engaging and I was left wanting more from every story. Brilliant, insightful and intriguing, this may be my new favorite short story collection to date.
Z3RO –
Phenomenal read
This novel was an amazing experience from start to finish. It made me sad & mad at times, but overall, it was an amazing read. I enjoy the Afro/Black surrealism & absurdist tone/style that Adjei-Brenyah had when writing this collection of short stories about different aspects of the Black experience in America & the world, but also writing about subjects/topics like abortion, school shootings, rampant consumerism, unregulated capitalism, drug use to feel happy/confident, etc. Overall, Friday Black is a 5 star book ð¯, and it was a truly breathtaking novel and I hope it gets adapted as a TV show with Jordan Peele & Donald Glover at the helm.
Alice –
Black horror in the style of Peele’s
Good horror can come from a variety of places and to various effect. Jump scares, gore, serial killers, quiet seething. In some cases it can come from just barely exaggerating the conditions of a class of people. Friday Black is obviously the latter.A series of short stories, all more or less loosely connected by the horror of being black under the particularly vicious capitalism adopted by the United States. All stories feature a particularly unflinching examination of the violence of this all, varying from the direct violence of black people being lynched, to the indirect violence of a consumerist society, one that worships Mammon. To say much more, I feel, would spoil too much. The stories shocked my not easily shocked senses and the author has a disturbingly clear view of how a violent mind and society can operate. You’ll simply have to read the stories, and hopefully with this trigger warning: it’s not for the faint of heart.
Laurence R. Bachmann –
A Major New Voice
Friday Black, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyahâs collection of short stories is stunning. Absolutely stunning. The first twoâThe Finkelstein 5 and The Era are chilling in their depiction of and resemblance to todayâs society. There is a lovely vignette titled âThings My Mother Saidâ interspersed between but it is more aphorism than story. The Era imagines a dystopian future, while F5 is a slight exaggeration of todayâs racist tropes and behavior (so slight as to be truly terrifying).What is different about F5 is the response of Emmanuel and a band of enraged blacks that have finally had enough. Its rage and its righteousness cut to the quick. Both stories shine and resonate with a sparse prose embellished by tremendous passion and fury or the oppositeâa zombie-like stasis induced by âThe Goodâ. The Era freezes the soul with an indifference to the disenfranchised that is merely a tilt in the lens from the present day.In both tales real emotion; true feeling and experience is continually repressed, denied, delayed until it simmers and then boils over with explosive consequence. In F5 the author calculates âblacknessâ on a scale of 1-10 in ways that are hilarious and heartbreaking. Every black person, especially men, must tamp it down to get by, though none can ever eliminate it entirely. The Hospital Where is a pitch-perfect immersion into the role of the story-teller and the fears and indignities inflicted upon the poor and the vulnerable. Dollops of magical realism remind the reader of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon–without the soaring souls.Other stories are equally impressive; one or two, not so much. Lark Street, an imagining of a teenage girlâs aborting twin fetuses with the RU486 pill and her young boyfriendâs interaction with their unborn seemed contrived. For me though it was the exception. Zimmer Land is an interesting hybrid shining a harsh light on Florida’s Stand Your Ground law and the violent obsession of men with gaming. It feels though more like an episode of Black Mirror than a short story but perhaps that’s the point. The last story, Through The Flash is a hybrid like none I’ve ever seen–Groundhog Day meets Fight Club meets Mad Max. Terrifying but affirming.Very few of these tales miss the mark by much, or at all. Most have that intrinsic quality found in all great literatureâfamiliar and specific to a time and place (or people) but universal in themes and emotion. Friday Black is a great accomplishment; Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is an enormous talent. Highly recommended.