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Knucklehead
In Knucklehead, we meet Marcus Hayes, a brilliant black attorney who struggles, often unsuccessfully, with the impulse to confront everyday bad behavior with swift and antisocial action. The cause of this impulse is unknown to him. When he unexpectedly becomes involved with the kind, intelligent Amalia Stewart, her love and acceptance pacify his demons. But when his demons return, he is no longer inclined to contain them, and his life becomes a different thing entirely.
Set amid the racial violence of the 1990s, Knucklehead is hard-hitting, hilarious, and frank. The situations Marcus navigates are as familiar today as they were twenty years ago. And the similarity of our present-day climate is poignant and disturbing.
340 pages, Paperback
First published February 13, 2018
18 people are currently reading
604 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
June 20, 2021
The writing in this novel is deceptive. It pulls you into unexpected places. There is a casualness about the prose that is both endearing and disarming--it's a style where you never know what the narrator is going to do or say next. In one scene after another the protagonist continues a debate with himself, the debate of his lifetime, about whether this is the time when he'll resort to deadly violence to solve his problems. From moment to moment he relies on some sign that will give him permission to unleash his rage, and you keep expecting him to do great harm to someone, and at the same time you are kind of rooting for him to go ahead and do it, actually, given the horrible things that happen to him, and given how dismissively he is treated even by those who supposedly love him.
The perpetual threat of violence, fully justified in each scene, is an uncomfortable place to be as a reader, and an instructive one. I finished the book feeling upset and vulnerable, and I felt it was exactly the right way to feel about what happens in the story, both in terms of the real historical events portrayed in the book, and in terms of the fictional journey the main character takes from beginning to end.
Now that I've written all of the above I also want to add that at times this is a very funny book. It's a remarkable book. You should go in open-eyed and open-minded and see what happens.
The perpetual threat of violence, fully justified in each scene, is an uncomfortable place to be as a reader, and an instructive one. I finished the book feeling upset and vulnerable, and I felt it was exactly the right way to feel about what happens in the story, both in terms of the real historical events portrayed in the book, and in terms of the fictional journey the main character takes from beginning to end.
Now that I've written all of the above I also want to add that at times this is a very funny book. It's a remarkable book. You should go in open-eyed and open-minded and see what happens.
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August 30, 2018My full review will be published in the Michigan Quarterly Review later this year:
https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/autho...
https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/autho...
March 1, 2018
Marcus Hayes is young, gifted and Black. A promising attorney with an acerbic wit, he ushers the reader through 1990’s America spotlighting the Black Male experience. Pivotal events like the Rodney King beating are described with such clarity that they evoke a visceral response. Micro-aggressions are illuminated in such compelling fashion that they recall vivid memories of slights ignored, bitten tongues and offenses shoved so deep that they threaten to erupt at any moment. The difference with Marcus is that he does not stuff his emotions. His reactions are swift, resolute and often violent. Through his journal titled “Days Without Incident” our protagonist chronicles these offenses alongside his own transgressions in a manner that at times had me hysterically laughing.
Knucklehead is the brain child of Adam Smyer, who is himself an attorney. Filled with humor, Knucklehead is an examination of the injustices that African American men endure in today’s society and an honest depiction of the black male rage that ensues as a result of it. Not since George Schuyler’s Black No More have I read a satire as transfixing or encompassing of the black experience in America. Although this is his debut novel, I am certain we will be hearing more from this talented author.
Thanks to Akashic books, Adam Smyer and Edelweiss for an advanced copy of this book.
Knucklehead is the brain child of Adam Smyer, who is himself an attorney. Filled with humor, Knucklehead is an examination of the injustices that African American men endure in today’s society and an honest depiction of the black male rage that ensues as a result of it. Not since George Schuyler’s Black No More have I read a satire as transfixing or encompassing of the black experience in America. Although this is his debut novel, I am certain we will be hearing more from this talented author.
Thanks to Akashic books, Adam Smyer and Edelweiss for an advanced copy of this book.
August 12, 2017
A satirical new voice has arrived and he will be around a long time judging from this debut effort. Simply fascinating how the author, Adam Smyer uses the character Marcus Hayes, an African-American attorney, to traverse through nearly a decade from 1988-1997, all the while chronicling the days in the life of a young Black man with all the attendant worries, micro aggressions relationships loves, losses, doing so with unbridled hilarity. The book is written like we, the readers, are perusing through Marcus Hayes' journal, but it's still novelistic. The look we get is one that skillfully tackles various social issues, some as serious as cancer but all written with an easy humor-laden prose.
The challenge for Marcus Hayes is to have days that are conflict free. He actually keeps a Days Without Incident notepad, to count the number of days he consecutively goes without any incidents. He struggles to refrain from acting to these occurrences ,some easily avoidable, but the impetus of social justice drives him to respond. Things change for Marcus when he meets the lovely Amalia, a godsend of a woman, whom he is smart enough to marry, and his life shifts into a different gear. To say more would be spoiling what is sure to be one of the best books you will read this year. I'm certain that after reading this book and holding your sides from the laughter, you will want to share it with others and be glad you were there at the beginning of what promises to be a great career for Adam Smyer. His commentary is sharp, thoughtful and incisive. His writing calls to mind Ishmael Reed, Paul Beatty, Mat Johnson and other sardonic maestros. Can I do 6 stars?
Big thank you to Edelweiss and Akashic Books for an advanced ebook. Book publishes February 13, 2018. Mark your calendar.
The challenge for Marcus Hayes is to have days that are conflict free. He actually keeps a Days Without Incident notepad, to count the number of days he consecutively goes without any incidents. He struggles to refrain from acting to these occurrences ,some easily avoidable, but the impetus of social justice drives him to respond. Things change for Marcus when he meets the lovely Amalia, a godsend of a woman, whom he is smart enough to marry, and his life shifts into a different gear. To say more would be spoiling what is sure to be one of the best books you will read this year. I'm certain that after reading this book and holding your sides from the laughter, you will want to share it with others and be glad you were there at the beginning of what promises to be a great career for Adam Smyer. His commentary is sharp, thoughtful and incisive. His writing calls to mind Ishmael Reed, Paul Beatty, Mat Johnson and other sardonic maestros. Can I do 6 stars?
Big thank you to Edelweiss and Akashic Books for an advanced ebook. Book publishes February 13, 2018. Mark your calendar.
April 27, 2018
you should probably read this if you are a white person living in the USA, but warning that it will make you so angry you'll die of anger.
no, i exaggerate. it's also v. funny. i listened to the audiobook and the performer really, really performs it. it's brilliant.
but i couldn't take more than a little bit a day, cuz it's gripping and fierce and infuriating and it makes you want to kill all white people.*
* i am a white person living in the USA
no, i exaggerate. it's also v. funny. i listened to the audiobook and the performer really, really performs it. it's brilliant.
but i couldn't take more than a little bit a day, cuz it's gripping and fierce and infuriating and it makes you want to kill all white people.*
* i am a white person living in the USA
July 25, 2019
Started out really good and funny, but took an odd, sad, and unbelievably wacky turn midway through. Wanted to knock the protaganist upside the head many, many times during the latter half of the book. Characters who make a habit of dumb decision making cause my blood to boil, so once that became the foundation for the novel, reading became a chore.
Men may like this one all the way, through. They are definitely the intended audience.
Men may like this one all the way, through. They are definitely the intended audience.
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March 30, 2018Gathering my thoughts on this book.
February 2, 2018
First things first, I could not put this book down once I started. I finished it in a blaze of binge-reading. The story is compelling, gut-wrenching, infuriating and--remarkably for all that--filled with laugh out loud moments in almost every chapter.
The protagonist and narrator Marcus Hayes is a young black attorney who has recently relocated to San Francisco from NY after being offered a job by a big law firm. The story takes place in the late 80s and early 90s and covers many of the iconic events of the era: The savage beating of Rodney King, the acquittal of the cops who were filmed doing it, and the riots that followed; the acquittal of OJ Simpson and the attendant agonizing over what it meant; The LIRR massacre; and more. I am old enough to have been aware of these events when they happened, but this book gave me a fresh perspective on subjects that have been written about exhaustively.
For all that it covers these major events, it is also a deeply personal novel. Marcus is a complex and flawed protagonist. He is brilliant and self-destructive, loves cats and guns in almost equal measure, a black belt in karate who provokes fights, a thoughtful and caring romantic partner and a self-absorbed asshole. Marcus uses humor to navigate much of the daily microaggressions and straight up aggression in his life--to his benefit and the readers'--but humor isn't enough and much of the driving force of the story is Marcus's struggle to figure out what IS an appropriate response to the sometimes merely (but inexcusably) insensitive and often overtly racist behavior he encounters on both coasts, and not only from white people. What is the appropriate response? Read the book and let's talk.
The protagonist and narrator Marcus Hayes is a young black attorney who has recently relocated to San Francisco from NY after being offered a job by a big law firm. The story takes place in the late 80s and early 90s and covers many of the iconic events of the era: The savage beating of Rodney King, the acquittal of the cops who were filmed doing it, and the riots that followed; the acquittal of OJ Simpson and the attendant agonizing over what it meant; The LIRR massacre; and more. I am old enough to have been aware of these events when they happened, but this book gave me a fresh perspective on subjects that have been written about exhaustively.
For all that it covers these major events, it is also a deeply personal novel. Marcus is a complex and flawed protagonist. He is brilliant and self-destructive, loves cats and guns in almost equal measure, a black belt in karate who provokes fights, a thoughtful and caring romantic partner and a self-absorbed asshole. Marcus uses humor to navigate much of the daily microaggressions and straight up aggression in his life--to his benefit and the readers'--but humor isn't enough and much of the driving force of the story is Marcus's struggle to figure out what IS an appropriate response to the sometimes merely (but inexcusably) insensitive and often overtly racist behavior he encounters on both coasts, and not only from white people. What is the appropriate response? Read the book and let's talk.
February 25, 2018
A Wondrous, Angry American Candide
Our due as Americans, we are told, are the rights, on equal footing, to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What then, is the sane response when everyone seems bent on snatching it all away? And when they start succeeding? Marcus Hayes, the young African-American lawyer who is the protagonist of Adam Smyer's virtuoso debut novel tells us: there are only insane (and increasingly dangerous) responses to an insane America (which he senses never really wanted him where he has arrived anyway). As Hayes gains, then loses his career, his wife and his home, Smyer sets out the considered responses Hayes delivers. And they ARE considered. From early on, when Hayes and his girlfriend are appreciating the routine police beatings broadcast as entertainment on television, through the Simi Valley jury's acquittal of Rodney King's badged assailants, Hayes can rationalize every assault, insult or drawn weapon he provides, with incisive, lacerating humor.
"Knucklehead", like the best novels, gives us not only a compelling story, told with wit and bite, but a snapshot of the society engendering that story. Reading of Hayes' insane American times during our own is a balm, and a great ride at the same time. Highest recommendation.
NB: I am a friend of the author.
Our due as Americans, we are told, are the rights, on equal footing, to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What then, is the sane response when everyone seems bent on snatching it all away? And when they start succeeding? Marcus Hayes, the young African-American lawyer who is the protagonist of Adam Smyer's virtuoso debut novel tells us: there are only insane (and increasingly dangerous) responses to an insane America (which he senses never really wanted him where he has arrived anyway). As Hayes gains, then loses his career, his wife and his home, Smyer sets out the considered responses Hayes delivers. And they ARE considered. From early on, when Hayes and his girlfriend are appreciating the routine police beatings broadcast as entertainment on television, through the Simi Valley jury's acquittal of Rodney King's badged assailants, Hayes can rationalize every assault, insult or drawn weapon he provides, with incisive, lacerating humor.
"Knucklehead", like the best novels, gives us not only a compelling story, told with wit and bite, but a snapshot of the society engendering that story. Reading of Hayes' insane American times during our own is a balm, and a great ride at the same time. Highest recommendation.
NB: I am a friend of the author.
February 28, 2018
Marcus' future is golden: a young black man surging through law school in New York City with flying colors, all but guaranteed a position with a big-name law firm. Marcus' girlfriend Amalia, brilliant and beautiful fellow law student, successfully checks his lifelong compulsion to engage in voluntary verbal and physical altercations. After graduation, California and the good life beckon...
Like others, I had difficulties putting this book down -- often out of sheer fascination, and at other times in the manner of being unable to look away from a train wreck. Very eye-opening, and it reads so genuinely like a non-fictional autobiography that I had to remind myself (likely dozens of times) that it was a work of fiction. I loved the many clever turns of phrase and timeline of cultural events from the '80s and '90s.
I received this ARC via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.
Like others, I had difficulties putting this book down -- often out of sheer fascination, and at other times in the manner of being unable to look away from a train wreck. Very eye-opening, and it reads so genuinely like a non-fictional autobiography that I had to remind myself (likely dozens of times) that it was a work of fiction. I loved the many clever turns of phrase and timeline of cultural events from the '80s and '90s.
I received this ARC via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.
February 21, 2018
A very promising and enjoyable debut. There have been several recent brilliant satirical novels about the ironies and futilities of African-American life, including Paul Beatty's "The Sellout" and James Hannaham's "Delicious Foods". "Knucklehead" is even better. It's a hard right hook to your forehead, with plenty of wit, simmering rage, love, grief, political incorrectness, and a trip down the 1990s' memory lane.
February 18, 2018
Funny, gripping, dark, necessary, dripping with allegory. I don't want to say anything more specific because of spoilers, but also because his writing style, even during mundane descriptions of things, just shines and deserves to just speak for itself.
July 23, 2019
Lots of other people did good summaries of the plot, so I'll leave that alone, except to say that it kept me wanting to turn the page to see what would happen next.
I see a lot of “angry black man” descriptions of Marcus, and I suppose he is that, but I also feel like that’s missing the point. My takeaway from this novel wasn’t that Marcus was angry, but that Marcus, and other black men in the United States, have so many perfectly valid reasons to be angry that it is a wonder there isn’t more violence.
I am not black or a man, and yet I found Marcus sympathetic. He is like a sighted person in a world full of willfully blind people, and, as you might imagine, that is a frustrating and profoundly alienating experience.
I was a youth in the nineties, but I remember the events this book covers, and Marcus’s perspective on them was enlightening. It’s like getting to take a peek at the world through someone else’s eyes, and the view is sobering.
This is a powerful book. One of the few that have actually broadened my perspective of the world. To say it is worth the read would be understating the thing considerably.
I see a lot of “angry black man” descriptions of Marcus, and I suppose he is that, but I also feel like that’s missing the point. My takeaway from this novel wasn’t that Marcus was angry, but that Marcus, and other black men in the United States, have so many perfectly valid reasons to be angry that it is a wonder there isn’t more violence.
I am not black or a man, and yet I found Marcus sympathetic. He is like a sighted person in a world full of willfully blind people, and, as you might imagine, that is a frustrating and profoundly alienating experience.
I was a youth in the nineties, but I remember the events this book covers, and Marcus’s perspective on them was enlightening. It’s like getting to take a peek at the world through someone else’s eyes, and the view is sobering.
This is a powerful book. One of the few that have actually broadened my perspective of the world. To say it is worth the read would be understating the thing considerably.
April 27, 2018
I loved this book and think almost everyone with any emerging interest in how our identities and experiences inform our perceptions should read it. This is not a book about anger, rage, bad behavior or lurid language, though it does contain those things; it is a book about a man and his experience of the world. It is sincere and complex and speaks truth.
July 26, 2019
Black guy from NY does well in law school, finds a gf and moves to SF where things fall apart. Hard to say much more about the plot without spoiling it. Funny, relatable, written as journal entries from mid-1980s to mid-90s. Lots about racial injustice and manhood, and about anger and bad behavior generally. Cynical, infuriating, excellent.
November 7, 2020
As a person who has a discomfort with anger, it really says something about this book that I liked it. The story follows Marcus as he decides whether to act on his anger or not. And what triggered his anger made so much sense. It was super enlightening to hear the multiple aggressions that occur to BIPOC regularly.
February 25, 2018
This is the author's debut novel but I could not get into this one. Subject matter, characters, writing style - just not anything that appealed to me. Struggling to get to page 100, I finally decided to quit. I received this copy from LibraryThing Giveaway for an honest review.
December 26, 2018
"On Christmas '96 I did not get out of bed. I did not answer the phone. I did not drown my cats or hang myself. That's what I did that day. It took some doing."
Big mood.
Big mood.
March 3, 2018
This is basically a novel that you would expect from a affluent black conservative living in California. The author (erm protagonist) is honestly a new black and can really afford to be one because he's an attorney. The description of the book is very misleading. The black woman that calms his demons is like only 10% of the book (if that). The rest is him running around with a racist white woman (that's handled with kid gloves throughout the book) who in the ends does him dirty, but the author (erm, I mean protagonist) doesn't really notice. And it's only implied she's done him dirty and the white institutions of power are taking her side simply because she is white. But the author (erm, I mean the protagonist), never actually says this. Like it would truly burst his post-racial dream world bubble if it were actually said out loud.
Intertesting that White men are held in complete contempt. Even thought without them there wouldn't be any racist white women that the author (excuse me, I mean the protagonist) finds "cute".
Also, interesting that the black woman that's actually good for the protagonist ends up how she did, but the racist white woman ends up just fine. Better than fine actually. He takes it in stride too, even though the woman is obviously crazy.
It's so insane to me, that no meaningful reflection on the part of the author/protagonist at all in regards to cali culture at all. From the law firm office culture to the bookstore scene, this author/protagonist doesn't seem to like himself, black people, or black culture which is why the black jokes fall flat. They are not jokes, or even witty observations. It's just how the author sees black people. And it's pathetically obvious too. Why no just admit that the protagonist (who is an obvious reflection of the author, let me stop being shady with the wise cracks) has race issues and having purely sexual relationships with white women is how he copes? There nothing they have to offer each other but that. Why despite knowing that your mom doesn't like her? Why considering her reaction to The O.J. Trial? You two clearly can't relate on a meaningful level. He admits Lol, what? Just strange all around. The only thing that's missing that would have added true authenticity to this novel, is white woman saying the n-word and the author giggling it off.
Overall, the author's attempt pass off his diary for a novel is a huge fail.
Please author, wherever you are, get some counseling. I can't believe this is honestly being passed off as good literature.
Intertesting that White men are held in complete contempt. Even thought without them there wouldn't be any racist white women that the author (excuse me, I mean the protagonist) finds "cute".
Also, interesting that the black woman that's actually good for the protagonist ends up how she did, but the racist white woman ends up just fine. Better than fine actually. He takes it in stride too, even though the woman is obviously crazy.
It's so insane to me, that no meaningful reflection on the part of the author/protagonist at all in regards to cali culture at all. From the law firm office culture to the bookstore scene, this author/protagonist doesn't seem to like himself, black people, or black culture which is why the black jokes fall flat. They are not jokes, or even witty observations. It's just how the author sees black people. And it's pathetically obvious too. Why no just admit that the protagonist (who is an obvious reflection of the author, let me stop being shady with the wise cracks) has race issues and having purely sexual relationships with white women is how he copes? There nothing they have to offer each other but that. Why despite knowing that your mom doesn't like her? Why considering her reaction to The O.J. Trial? You two clearly can't relate on a meaningful level. He admits Lol, what? Just strange all around. The only thing that's missing that would have added true authenticity to this novel, is white woman saying the n-word and the author giggling it off.
Overall, the author's attempt pass off his diary for a novel is a huge fail.
Please author, wherever you are, get some counseling. I can't believe this is honestly being passed off as good literature.
August 2, 2021
Marcus Hayes reads two newspapers a day to keep up with the partners at the law firm he works at, and notices the elevator small talk is only concentrated on the bigger stories. “The most fucked-up stories in the paper are the tiny ones,” Marcus notes, and keeps reading those stories because no one is talking about them and “someone had to.” I liked Marcus’ observations about the pictures on the pamphlets his wife receives from the hospital; all of Marcus’ hospital observations are very poignant and sharp. When I started reading Knucklehead, I thought that the plot would go a completely different way: I expected Amalia to get tired of Marcus being too aggressive and break up with him because of some inciting incident. Instead, Amalia and Marcus get married, are happy, and then Amalia dies of cancer—so unexpected, but extremely compelling! “Grief is a thing that sits by your bed and waits for you to wake up,” is one of my favorite sentences in the book. Sometimes, when Marcus is confronting someone in public, I think he should let it go and move on. Other times I feel myself cheering him on despite the fact that I know his behaviors are not always healthy (the example that comes to mind is Marcus’ driving game, “How Bad Do You Want It?”). I hope that Marcus finds his way after the novel is over because he is pretty spun out when the story ends. As much as I liked Marcus reading the little newspaper stories, his focus on small events in his life prevented him from seeing the big picture when it really counted.
May 10, 2021
This book was freaking brilliant. The writing in every scene felt completely fresh and original while also being clear and accessible. Current events of the time (the 90's) were woven into the story in a way that felt super authentic and relevant to the character and story events. The author gives us a character who is both responding to the racial macro- and micro-aggressions directed against him - and the structural racism in the world around him - and also struggling with his own inner demons. Even as you see him engage in some pretty bad behavior, you can't avoid having tremendous empathy for the reasons why.
I thought the arc/ direction of the story was unusual and intriguing.
Content warning: Very violent.
I thought the arc/ direction of the story was unusual and intriguing.
Content warning: Very violent.
July 22, 2018
Opera prima, autobiografica, non ancora tradotta in Italiano. La storia si svolge a partire dai primi anni ‘90 quando il protagonista è un promettente studente di legge e poi un giovane avvocato a San Francisco. Lavora tanto, fa tanti soldi, si sposa. Fa una vita normale, compreso il fatto di reagire, almeno all’inizio, con humour e ironia, a quel razzismo sotto traccia a cui ogni nero d’America è abituato. Poi accadono due eventi cruciali che danno alla sua vita e alla storia una svolta drammatica: la morte per cancro della moglie e l’uccisione di Rodney King da parte dei poliziotti di L.A. L’impatto di questi due eventi sarà molto forte: sul lato privato Marcus lascia il lavoro e inizia una relazione con Sarah, una hippie bianca che si rivelerà piuttosto pazzoide e razzista. Sul lato pubblico, l’omicidio di King apre la via ad un clima di uccisioni, aggressioni, episodi di razzismo aperto e conclamato, ad un clima d’odio e diffidenza che spingeranno Marcus ad acquistare un’arma per autodifesa, ma anche ad accettare ed assecondare le proprie pulsioni violente.
Ben scritto, scorrevole, fa riflettere su temi molto di impatto e molto attuali.
Ben scritto, scorrevole, fa riflettere su temi molto di impatto e molto attuali.
June 14, 2024
This book was pitched to me as a novel about Marcus, a Black attorney in big law in San Francisco, who has anger-management issues around race. So at the end of May 2020, when I had my own anger-management issues around race but didn't know how to give voice to them, Knucklehead called out from the bookshelf.
Through Knucklehead, I relived the racial tension of the 90s through Marcus' eyes and not as I had actually lived it as a 20-something ballet dancer. From that vantage point, Marcus comes across as a brilliant young man allowed to come to a full boil through anger but not through avenues of his intelligence or career trajectory or that woeful word "potential."
Adam Smyer has created a protagonist with sense of masculine empathy that is raw and honest, balanced, intricate, and messy and placed him in a historical context that sheds light onto systemic and institutional racism in case you've been wondering, how did we get here? Or maybe you're wondering, how come we're still here?
Through Knucklehead, I relived the racial tension of the 90s through Marcus' eyes and not as I had actually lived it as a 20-something ballet dancer. From that vantage point, Marcus comes across as a brilliant young man allowed to come to a full boil through anger but not through avenues of his intelligence or career trajectory or that woeful word "potential."
Adam Smyer has created a protagonist with sense of masculine empathy that is raw and honest, balanced, intricate, and messy and placed him in a historical context that sheds light onto systemic and institutional racism in case you've been wondering, how did we get here? Or maybe you're wondering, how come we're still here?
July 12, 2018
This book touches heavy topics like black lives matter and cancer and domestic violence. I really like the beginning of it. In early 90s, Black man becomes a successful lawyer despite the racism, internal struggles... marries with a great lady and have a blissful marriage. Then I don’t know what happens to him (other than the obvious). He is caught in a downfall and it seems to be unstoppable. Gets in trouble in every way possible. I really did not like the violent tendencies in him as well... hard to feel the injustice towards him when he is checking the boxes society and justice set for him...
Overall easy read... goes over the important events that happened between 1989-1995.. explains the turbulence an African American male would feel in the face of ignorance, stereotypes, violence... I just wish he would not make the bad choices in life and become the “knucklehead” when everything was going for him...
Overall easy read... goes over the important events that happened between 1989-1995.. explains the turbulence an African American male would feel in the face of ignorance, stereotypes, violence... I just wish he would not make the bad choices in life and become the “knucklehead” when everything was going for him...
August 30, 2018
One of the great gifts of reading is the chance to get inside someone else's body and see what that feels like. This book allows one to feel the frustrations, hurt and rage of a young black man growing up in the 80's and 90's in NYU Law School and working for a law firm in San Francisco. A telling moment for me was when the protagonist was watching the film Sankofa in a theater where most of the audience is white and they keep glancing at him there with his white girlfriend. Or when a colleague brings in his baby and it smiles at everyone but starts to cry when it sees him and he thinks it's because he's black. He tells about the slights, the patronizing behaviors, the fear others feel towards him and so on. One can begin to understand why he feels so much rage. The writing style is amusing and smart and sometimes heartbreaking. It feels honest and unflinching.
June 19, 2023
I laughed a few times (this is a satirical read), but not much was memorable about the book, and by the end I did regret wasting time on it (I have to pick the books I read during school carefully because I will be spending at least 3 weeks with them!)
One part I remember laughing at (i.e. agreeing with) was (I’m paraphrasing) the protagonist heckling a [Black] stage performer who tried to sound radical by applauding the Afrikaans who jumped ship and escaped slavery, claiming they’re the reason we are able to stand up for ourselves today. But… no. We’re actually only alive today and able to stand up for ourselves because of those who did not jump ship.
The protagonist’s humor got drowned out by him falling in love with some mentally unstable white chick. I laughed a few times at the humor in that, but too much of the book was wasted on it. It had potential but fell flat.
One part I remember laughing at (i.e. agreeing with) was (I’m paraphrasing) the protagonist heckling a [Black] stage performer who tried to sound radical by applauding the Afrikaans who jumped ship and escaped slavery, claiming they’re the reason we are able to stand up for ourselves today. But… no. We’re actually only alive today and able to stand up for ourselves because of those who did not jump ship.
The protagonist’s humor got drowned out by him falling in love with some mentally unstable white chick. I laughed a few times at the humor in that, but too much of the book was wasted on it. It had potential but fell flat.
October 27, 2025
This has become my favorite read to date. This shit had me on the edge of my seat. I finished it in 2 days. The main character is unhinged and I was literally scared to turn the page cause I didn’t know what he was on. It’s about a black law student turned attorney who struggles to deal with his rage that stems from what he deems as other people’s “bad behavior” but is essentially just him dealing with casual racism in a white workplace/ society. His inner thoughts are violent but written hilariously, although he is deadass. This book encompasses what it feels like to hear something racist and find the only other black person in the room to make eye contact with and silently say “this can’t be forreal”. Anyways, this is top 2 and it ain’t 2. HIGHLY RECOMMEND ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
February 7, 2018
"Bad behavior with swift and antisocial action" is what this book is about, along with some of the most foul language, right from the beginning of the book.
It starts off with a shocking childhood "experiment," which almost made me throw the book away, but since the book was a free arc I felt obligated to read and review it.
Well, it certainly is "different." The character's constantly, wildly dangerous driving alone made me uncomfortable. The author is obviously a well-educated, talented writer. I hope in the future he will write books that are more pleasant to read. And that is my honest opinion.
It starts off with a shocking childhood "experiment," which almost made me throw the book away, but since the book was a free arc I felt obligated to read and review it.
Well, it certainly is "different." The character's constantly, wildly dangerous driving alone made me uncomfortable. The author is obviously a well-educated, talented writer. I hope in the future he will write books that are more pleasant to read. And that is my honest opinion.
March 9, 2018
The first half is a good if formulaic story line about law school and love A Black law school student falls in love and the couple starts their careers in law. We get insights into what it’s like to be a new lawyer in a big firm AND what it’s like to be black in a major Chicago firm.
The second half goes in a very different direction. Telling you would be a spoiler. But the story goes into a list of statements of anger. We get a series of individual events that, read in context, make some sense. But the second half is a tough read.
The second half goes in a very different direction. Telling you would be a spoiler. But the story goes into a list of statements of anger. We get a series of individual events that, read in context, make some sense. But the second half is a tough read.
December 9, 2020
This book was the December selection for my library's African American book discussion, otherwise I wouldn't have read this book. I didn't really care for the writing style. It was as if I was reading someone's journal that wrote whenever the feeling hit them. I had to keep looking back to see how much time had passed since the last "entry." Sometimes it was 3 months, 2 days, a week, etc.
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