‘Askaripour’s satire of the tech industry . . . will appeal to fans of Paul Beatty’s Booker-prizewinning novel “The Sellout” and Jordan Peele’s film “Get Out”‘ The Economist
‘Mesmerizing. . . a high wire act full of verve and dark, comic energy.’ Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad
‘I love this so much. It’s effortlessly funny, smart and satisfyingly self-aware’ Candice Carty-Williams, author of Queenie
Meet Darren. An unambitious twenty-two-year-old living with his mother and working at Starbucks. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in Darren joining Rhett’s elite sales team.
On his first day Darren realizes he is the only Black person in the company, and when things start to get strange, he reimagines himself as ‘Buck’, a ruthless salesman, unrecognizable to his friends and family. Money, partying, and fame soon follow Buck, and wherever he goes more is never enough. But when tragedy strikes at home, Buck begins to hatch a plan to help young people of colour infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.
An earnest work of satire, Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of office culture; a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.
‘A crackling satire of corporate America’ Guardian
‘A wonderful, riotous romp. A razor sharp, humorous examination of American workplace dynamics in the tech industry‘ Irenosen Okojie
‘Mesmerizing. . . a high wire act full of verve and dark, comic energy.’ Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad
‘I love this so much. It’s effortlessly funny, smart and satisfyingly self-aware’ Candice Carty-Williams, author of Queenie
Meet Darren. An unambitious twenty-two-year-old living with his mother and working at Starbucks. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in Darren joining Rhett’s elite sales team.
On his first day Darren realizes he is the only Black person in the company, and when things start to get strange, he reimagines himself as ‘Buck’, a ruthless salesman, unrecognizable to his friends and family. Money, partying, and fame soon follow Buck, and wherever he goes more is never enough. But when tragedy strikes at home, Buck begins to hatch a plan to help young people of colour infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.
An earnest work of satire, Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of office culture; a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.
‘A crackling satire of corporate America’ Guardian
‘A wonderful, riotous romp. A razor sharp, humorous examination of American workplace dynamics in the tech industry‘ Irenosen Okojie
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Reviews
Askaripour closes the deal on the first page
Sharp, clever and often hilarious
An irresistible comic novel
Rhapsodic and incisive
Razor-sharp
Darkly comic
Askaripour wields a sharp satirical blade to deliver social commentary . . . He may have written the first satire that doubles as self-help
This quick-witted, trenchant debut novel starts like a superhero origin story . . . What follows is a harrowing tale that operates at the fraught intersection of capitalism, race, and class
Blazing . . . A fast-paced, sharp, hilarious story with a lot of heart.
A wonderful, riotous romp
Black Buck is as funny as it is smart
A satire about race, work, ambition and power, it's sharp and hilarious. . . Different and fabulous
Askaripour's satire of the tech industry-and of the intersection between capitalism and American racial politics-will appeal to fans of Paul Beatty's Booker-prizewinning novel "The Sellout" and Jordan Peele's film "Get Out"
A crackling satire of corporate America, it has been compared to other classics of the genre Sorry to Bother You by Boots Riley and Jordan Belfort's The Wolf of Wall Street'
Fast-paced, energetic and confident
Sharp and hilarious . . . Different and fabulous
Energetic . . . Black Buck boasts a brisk pace, ebullient narrator and an inspirational tone
An entertaining read with much to say about race relations
A fast-paced and dazzling satire of sales, start-up business culture and race inequality told as a mock self-help sales guide
I love this so much. It's effortlessly funny, smart and satisfyingly self-aware