Black Buck is very current, relevant, and fresh. A satire about a young African American in the overwhelmingly white tech industry, it can be laugh out loud funny, heartbreakingly sad, and totally anger inducing. It reminds me of a cross between The Bonfire and the Vanities and Deacon King Kong. I didn't love the ending, but that's a personal preference.

Told with anxiety-provoking intensity and propulsion, this book tackles themes of power, privilege and ambition in predominantly White corporate America. On the surface, this book is about Darren or “Buck”, a Black man with potential and talent trying to get ahead in the sales world dealing with daily microaggressions and eventual blatant, hateful racism. For me, there was a deeper lesson to be learned here that was screaming for attention. Almost allegory in nature, we have our key players in the bigger puzzle, a microcosm of the deeper racial issues in our country. We meet the racist POS Clyde who put me on edge in every scene he was in and the encouraging but somehow also passively complacent Rhett who gives Darren a shot in the company but never really supports him when it matters most. A startling reminder and gut punching reality check that our fellow Black Americans will never get ahead unless White people challenge and stand up to other powerful White people. We also see these leaders in the company using "diversity" to fit their own agenda instead of doing what is best for Darren. I was extremely moved and enfuriated by this story.

This was intense and exhausting and made me uncomfortable (which I think is the point?). I felt so invested in Darren's story and truly went through alllll the emotions-- he's an early-20s Black man living a comfortable life with his mom, girlfriend, and other lifelong friends working as a manager at Starbucks. One day he's recruited by the CEO of a big startup and from there it goes on and explores a lot looking at racism, white privilege, stereotypes, the lack of BIPOC individuals in sales and startups. I honestly felt like it could have been a bit longer because there were a few pretty big events that I felt seemed quickly glossed over. Overall I loved the writing, the pace of the story, and the cast of supporting characters.

Black Buck is the story of Darren, a Starbucks employee who gets recruited as a salesman at a very weird but successful startup. Throughout the book, we watch Darren as he learns about sales and work-life balance. The book is well written, quick paced, and dives deep into the topics of race, class, success and ambition. I enjoyed the book, and appreciated the vision of Mateo Askaripour, as its written as almost a self help / sales manual using Darren's voice.

I am happy this book was selected as a Read With Jenna pick because I think the book sparks important conversations on race and how we can change systems. Definitely recommend!

TW: use of the "r" word and racism

Thank you to Mateo Askaripour, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and NetGalley for providing a copy to review!

#blackbuck #mateoaskaripour #readwithjenna #goodmorningamerica #netgalley #arc #netgalleyreviewer let start by saying anything that I say will fail in comparison to you reading this book. I’ll be honest. I didn’t know what to expect. But. It wasn’t what I read 🤯there is no justice to be served in this review. It is an amazing book. Written by an amazing man. One named Buck. Follow this young black man on his journey. Dad died young. He has his Ma. They’re good people. He’s working at Starbucks waiting for his opportunity. He’s smart. One day a man named Rhett gives him his opportunity to become more. Make more. You WANT to read this book. I am just #speechless #bookstagram #bookaddict #readersofinstagram #netgalleyreview #booknerd

From the witty and often valid sales advice to the absurdity of start-up culture, Black Buck is insightful and original. The story is often uncomfortable in the way it lays bare issues of racism and white supremacy and pushes the reader to experience these things from Darren's perspective. While the book is satirical, as with most satire - there is a foundation of truth underneath. The MC, Darren's voice remains engaging and authentic throughout the twists and turns, of which there are many!
A reader picking up Black Buck should keep an open mind, be prepared to veer into unexpected places, and just let the story sell itself to you.
I'm sold.

Truthfully I’m a tad disappointed. What this book suffers from is a strong edit deficiency. It was far FAR too long, and specifically I found the first third repetitive and boring. There were a few lines (one specifically about a nun’s nether regions) that violently pulled me out of story in an unpleasant way. That being said - the writing was good, the story ambitious, and the satire cutting. I would absolutely give Askaripour another go and definitely would not dissuade anyone from reading this if they were to be intrigued by the premise of this buzzy book.

I devoured this book. From the dedication, "To all those who have ever been made to feel less than, I see you," with tears in my eyes I was hooked. The story was powerful, difficult and important. As an educator who works with college students, particularly BIPOC students, the lessons in this book on how to sell resonated with how to be confident and stand up for what you hope for, aspire to and dream of. As a white woman, I learned from the life of Buck and his friends. As a white woman I saw clearly the ways systemic racism has been prevalent in this Country. Read this book, trust me. Read this book.

I didn’t enjoy this. I get that it was satire but I felt like it written for a white audience and would only serve to reinforce their own world view.

A mash-up between "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Sorry To Bother You", I went in knowing I'd love at least half of this book (love "Sorry To Bother You"!), but hoping I'd enjoy the entire book. Alas, it didn't hit for me the way I thought it would, and it's 100% a "me" problem. While I know this book will be enjoyed by many, it just wasn't for me at this time. Aside from the plot. the author has a really great voice and writing style, and I will definitely read his next book!

Written as a (satirical) how-to for Black salesmen, Black Buck tells the story of a young man who finds meaning (& wealth) in becoming a salesman for a tech startup.
The book skewers startup culture, tech bros, and even Gary Vee (there’s a Barry Dayner of Daynermedia, who is “big on YouTube”) very effectively.
It also effectively tells the story of a guy who is trying to make it in a racist world...even when it means making some very bad decisions.

Black Buck is a such a sharp satire. The plot is fast-paced, the prose is witty and crackles off the page and the main character's journey is a wild ride that highlights the way capitalism and racism act as forces of oppression in the brutalist way. More like this please!

Part sales manual, part faux memoir, Black Buck pushes many boundaries, both literary and societal. In Buck’s own words, “The turns in this story are half absurd, half jaw-dropping, and a whole heaping of crazy.” And the absurdity mixed with that heaping of crazy gave the author a platform to not only entertain but, more importantly, to touch on a variety of societal issues. This is a multilayered, relevant book that pushed me out of my comfort zone.

When we meet Darren, we see that he is a young, immensely likeable guy, with incredible potential, but he’s missing ambition. Much prodding from family and friends paired with a fateful meeting with a CEO of a prosperous, new tech startup transforms Darren from Starbucks shift leader to sales prodigy.

Somewhere along the way, Darren ceases to exist and Buck takes his place. Is this a good transformation? It’s hard to decide. Buck certainly is dealt a heaping portion of racism amongst the already high pressure tension of this tech startup. Under that additional pressure, I’d imagine any 22 year old could easily falter. (Heck…even out from under that pressure, many 22 year olds falter!)

At one point in the story, I came to dislike Buck. But upon reflection, what was more heinous…Buck’s response to the high pressure environment entrenched in racism or the high powered racism itself? The answer, of course, is obvious.

And while I, as a white person, found nothing satirical in Buck’s story- in fact it was difficult and horrifying to read at times- I understand how the author created Buck as a way for people of color to laugh amongst the tragedy of racism. This in and of itself may be the most compelling reason for all people, especially white, to read this book in my opinion.

Surprisingly, the manual portion of this novel gives sound, quality advice to salespersons and laymen alike. Like many stay-at-home moms, I found myself in the world of direct sales at one point. The sales aspects of this book took me back in time to network calls and yearly sales conferences. Like me, you may reminisce or you may actually find something valuable to implement.

This book is Buck’s journey to learn about himself. But in the end, learning who he IS isn’t nearly as important as learning who he is NOT. And if that isn’t the most fitting piece of advice for all of us, no matter skin color, I don’t know what is.

Many thanks to Mateo Askaripour, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour is many things—racial justice commentary, social satire about the sales industry, debut novel, and maybe even a morality play. But at its heart, it’s a good story with a compelling main character who indeed sold his ideas effectively to this reader.

Darren Vender is a Manhattan Starbucks barista. Actually, he’s the shift boss at their location in an upscale office building and he’s good with that. He’s also a young black man from Bed-Stuy with a sweet mom, a future-focused girlfriend, and strong neighborhood support. As they say, he’s an achiever who never “lived up to his potential.”

That all changes when Rhett Daniels, a charismatic CEO from upstairs, taps Darren to come work in sales. The organization’s sales trainer christens him Buck, claiming it’s because of the coffee shop connection. Now Darren / Buck learns to swim in the tank of ravenous sharks into which he’s tossed.

My conclusions
Askaripour takes an ambitious bite out of several topics as he develops Black Buck’s plot and characters. He skewers the sales industry and business in general, especially as it relates to Old Boys’ Clubs. Then he takes on the downsides of diversity programs in companies, and racial justice overall. Throw in a little commentary on gentrification and you get the idea here.

Nevertheless, the author focuses on Darren, the people in his life, and the impact of his life choices on them all. We see beyond the tropes and care about the characters. The plot barrels along like a high-speed elevator. More important is whether our hero is on his way up or down in this fast-charging machine.

Alternately, Askaripour is somewhat heavy handed with allegorical meanings. For example, the choice of Buck as Darren’s alternate name is fraught with potential historical meaning. Is it a reference to the post-Reconstruction term for a powerful black man who won’t bend to the will of white men? Or are the white folks at his new company honestly tying it to the almighty dollar or his former employer? Same thing goes for Darren’s mentor’s name. Was Rhett named with a nod to another famous fictional character?

These questions aside, if you’re looking for a debut novel that’s dynamic, has forceful characters and meaningful themes, look no further. I recommend Black Buck and will certainly watch for upcoming work from Askaripour.

Acknowledgements
Many thanks to NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and the author for a digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for this honest review.

I was excited when I had the opportunity to read along with the “Read with Jenna” book club as it is very rare for me to actually read with a book club on time. Black Buck is a piece of satire that is funny yet very thought provoking about race and corporate America.

Darren is a manager at Starbucks in New York City waiting for the right opportunity when one finally seems to come along. He is hired as the only black salesman at a new, successful tech startup and given the nickname Buck. We follow his story as his success builds but his personal life suffers. This is written from the perspective of Buck as a memoir/self-help manual to learn sales and better your life.

I found it very funny but this also made it hard to empathize with the sadder parts of the book. I found the tone hard to keep up with when it would get super dark compared with the lighthearted vibe other parts had. But the story moved very quickly and was very easy to follow.

I’m not sure that satire is a genre I enjoy, so my opinion of the book overall is probably more affected by my reaction to the genre. I really appreciated how nothing gets glanced over when it comes to race and I loved how in your face it was about the current problems in society today. But I also found myself having a hard time really connecting with the story because of how exaggerated some things were. I personally like realistic stories so while I understand what the book was trying to do I was still bothered by how unrealistic it got at times.

Overall though this was such an interesting story that I had to keep reading to find out what the heck was going to happen next. There were so many engaging aspects to this story that had me thinking about it long after putting the book down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Let me tell you, this book is just as vibrant and colorful as it’s cover. 😍

Our book follows Darren, a faithful Starbucks worker with zero ambition as he gets discovered by a corporate sales giant. This clever book satirizes Darren’s journey as he deals with sales dude-bros, sociopathic trainers, racist co-co-workers, and over the top workplace antics. This new venture changes not only his name from Darren to Buck, but changes him internally in a way that his family doesn’t recognize him anymore. He wants to badly to better himself and help his family, but he has to figure out how to do that in a way that uses his talents AND keeps him true to himself.

This book gives me Shark Tank meets Tony Robbins meets Wolf of Wall Street vibes. It’s fast-paced and has a cast of rich characters, plus I could not help but imagine it as a movie the entire time I was reading.

Darren/Buck makes for a fascinating narrator. He’s talking to us from the present day and delving into the past to tell us the story almost like a faux sales memoir/business motivation book. Such a unique structure!

Plus the ending. WOW. I loved it and walked away from the book immensely satisfied. Askaripour is a brilliant writer and it’s hard to believe Black Buck is his debut novel! Color me impressed. I’m ready to read anything else he writes.

Thank you to @netgalley and @houghtonmifflinharcourt for the copy of this book and the opportunity to review it.

Debut novelist Mateo Askaripour comes smashing out of the gate with a story set in the high stakes world of sales.
“I chose to focus it on sales specifically not only because that’s what I know well and the world I come from but also because I believe that sales is as American as baseball, apple pie and our original commodity, slavery, our original trade.” -Mateo Askaripour


Born and raised in Bed-Stuy where he lives with his mother, Darren works in a Manhattan Starbucks located at the bottom of a high rise. When a slick CEO, Rhett Daniels comes in one morning to order his regular choice of joe, Darren sells him to try something different. It’s the moment that Rhett sees something in young Darren and opens the door to Sumwun, a start up company that works on improving the lives of its clients, big or small. The sole black face in a sea of whiteness, Darren begins the rigorous process of initiation and training, rising through the ranks but at what cost?

The book is being marketed as a satire but in interviews Askaripour has commented when he penned the book he never viewed it that way, and honestly I didn’t read it like that, at least the first half. Does this workplace, where people aren’t chained to desks but in a near literal playground complete with designated themed rooms, ball playing, gourmet meals, and pets sound so different from say, Google?
Askaripour does juggle alot, addressing racism, gentrification, and affirmative action among other things and there was a moment as Buck’s fortunes rise and an ugly side begins to emerge I didn’t know if and how he would bring an increasingly unlikable side of him back to center.
The writing is sharp and fast, dialogue crackling between characters with pop culture references strewn throughout that make Buck and his friends mostly charming and cool, but early on some of the best scenes are the ones that take place between Buck and his long time girlfriend Soraya. Meeting her in Washington Square Park as he observes the children playing nearby, two sentences nearly thrown away jumped off the page to me with such resonance and weight. “I watched little white kids running through the fountain. To be that free, man. That’s the dream”

Intermittent tips are thrown out to the reader interested in making their way into the sales world, that both stand on their own as bits of advice but are also used to break the action with levity like:
“Reader if you are 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.” By the books end there is an admitted absurdity to the action, but I gave over to it, finding the journey entirely satisfying. It’s a memorable debut and I’ll be interested to see both what he comes up with next, and who will be play the facile sales titan Buck in the movie.

Adding to the hype for this book, because it deserves it! What a ride. Askaripour delivers a biting, whip-smart portrayal of modern-day sales and what it means to be a black man in that space.

When this book was compared to Sorry to Bother You, I knew I needed to give it a go. I totally get the comparison! Askaripour’s satire is so on-point. Although the tech startup’s extreme atmosphere might be an exaggeration, the all-too-real ignorance and racism veiled as “hazing” from Buck’s coworkers are unfortunately not.

Askaripour’s writing is snappy and highly readable. I enjoyed the little snippets of sales tactics sprinkled in, and some of his ridiculous metaphors and similes made me snort. I know some people HATED this part of his style, but I honestly really enjoyed it!

The pacing in this book was a bit of a struggle for me. In the beginning I was hooked, then Darren undergoes a pretty unbelievable transformation in the blink of an eye. This section of the book lost me. I do think 100 pages could have been shaved here and there, but it’s all worth it for the LAST THIRD. What did I just read?? It’s so bonkers, yet in a way, pretty believable in today’s climate. You’ll have to read to see what I mean!

Despite my issue with the pacing, this book ended up being a wild ride that tackles real-life issues of racism, gentrification, and privilege in a super-smart way.

Black Buck is a satirical novel that offers a unique take on race and justice. Darren is a manager at Starbucks until one day Rhett Daniels , CEO of SumWun sees potential in him and offers him the opportunity of a life time. From there, things begin to look up and may possibly slowly spiral out of control. Darren himself is an interesting character. We watch his gradual change from Darren to Buck and how it affects not only himself, but the people closest to him. Throughout the book, we get tips on how to be a salesman and I actually found some of them to be helpful.

The book is meant to be grossly exaggerated and dramatic but honestly, it seemed very accurate given the circumstances of race and social justice in current America. It is so real in how racism affects the work place but also a day to day basis. It also tackles homelessness, gentrification, stereotypes, and white privilege. It does begin to drag at some parts but I see why the book was so long because it takes you in so many different directions that I really didn’t see coming. When I finished the book I stared off into the distance like “what just happened and what did I just read?” Askaripour takes us on quite a journey. I would call this a contemporary thriller but it’s definitely unlike any other book I have read with the mix of genres. I could definitely see this adapted into a tv series or a movie.

I had a hard time rating this but settled on four stars because of the unique content this book brings. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent! Black Buck is the witty and telling tale of the single black male at a New York tech start-up. His challenges and adventures will keep you turning the pages.