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A Particular Kind of Black Man
A stunning debut novel, from Rhodes Scholar and winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing, Tope Folarin about a Nigerian family living in Utah and their uncomfortable assimilation to American life.
Living in small-town Utah has always been an uneasy fit for Tunde Akinola s family, especially for his Nigeria-born parents. Though Tunde speaks English with a Midwestern accent, he can t escape the children who rub his skin and ask why the black won t come off. As he struggles to fit in and find his place in the world, he finds little solace from his parents who are grappling with their own issues.
Tunde s father, ever the optimist, works tirelessly chasing his American dream while his wife, lonely in Utah without family and friends, sinks deeper into schizophrenia. Then one otherwise-ordinary morning, Tunde s mother wakes him with a hug, bundles him and his baby brother into the car, and takes them away from the only home they ve ever known.
But running away doesn t bring her, or her children, any relief from the demons that plague her; once Tunde s father tracks them down, she flees to Nigeria, and Tunde never feels at home again. He spends the rest of his childhood and young adulthood searching for connection to the wary stepmother and stepbrothers he gains when his father remarries; to the Utah residents who mock his father s accent; to evangelical religion; to his Texas middle school s crowd of African-Americans; to the fraternity brothers of his historically black college. In so doing, he discovers something that sends him on a journey away from everything he has known.
Sweeping, stirring, and perspective-shifting, A Particular Kind of Black Man is a beautiful and poignant exploration of the meaning of memory, manhood, home, and identity as seen through the eyes of a first-generation Nigerian-American.
Living in small-town Utah has always been an uneasy fit for Tunde Akinola s family, especially for his Nigeria-born parents. Though Tunde speaks English with a Midwestern accent, he can t escape the children who rub his skin and ask why the black won t come off. As he struggles to fit in and find his place in the world, he finds little solace from his parents who are grappling with their own issues.
Tunde s father, ever the optimist, works tirelessly chasing his American dream while his wife, lonely in Utah without family and friends, sinks deeper into schizophrenia. Then one otherwise-ordinary morning, Tunde s mother wakes him with a hug, bundles him and his baby brother into the car, and takes them away from the only home they ve ever known.
But running away doesn t bring her, or her children, any relief from the demons that plague her; once Tunde s father tracks them down, she flees to Nigeria, and Tunde never feels at home again. He spends the rest of his childhood and young adulthood searching for connection to the wary stepmother and stepbrothers he gains when his father remarries; to the Utah residents who mock his father s accent; to evangelical religion; to his Texas middle school s crowd of African-Americans; to the fraternity brothers of his historically black college. In so doing, he discovers something that sends him on a journey away from everything he has known.
Sweeping, stirring, and perspective-shifting, A Particular Kind of Black Man is a beautiful and poignant exploration of the meaning of memory, manhood, home, and identity as seen through the eyes of a first-generation Nigerian-American.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published August 6, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 231 reviews
August 10, 2019
I had no idea how to be black...The few times I told my father how I felt he responded the same way: he told me not to worry, that if I worked hard enough and became successful, people would want to be like me. I took solace in his words for many years.
Then I started eighth grade.
Tunde is a second-generation Nigerian-American boy, born in Utah, where the singularity of his blackness gives him no perspective whatsoever on how to be black in America. His parents can't help him--they belong in Utah even less than he does. His mother returns to Nigeria without him. His father struggles along from one job to the next, consistently underemployed and the object of prejudice and ridicule.
And the boy Tunde grows up.
This is a remarkable Bildungsroman, full of quiet humanity. The prose felt simple as I read it, but the story is actually told in a way that illuminates some very rich ideas about identity and memory.
The narrator is direct and clear-eyed when describing the failures and flaws of his family. There is a particular-ness about the details in each small scene, where the title--a "particular" kind of black man--seems to acknowledge that Tunde is sum of all of the small details he has shared with us; his identity is unique, no matter how many times the people in his life try to make him match their prejudices about him, or to make him meet their hopes for him.
This is a remarkable novel.
Then I started eighth grade.
Tunde is a second-generation Nigerian-American boy, born in Utah, where the singularity of his blackness gives him no perspective whatsoever on how to be black in America. His parents can't help him--they belong in Utah even less than he does. His mother returns to Nigeria without him. His father struggles along from one job to the next, consistently underemployed and the object of prejudice and ridicule.
And the boy Tunde grows up.
This is a remarkable Bildungsroman, full of quiet humanity. The prose felt simple as I read it, but the story is actually told in a way that illuminates some very rich ideas about identity and memory.
The narrator is direct and clear-eyed when describing the failures and flaws of his family. There is a particular-ness about the details in each small scene, where the title--a "particular" kind of black man--seems to acknowledge that Tunde is sum of all of the small details he has shared with us; his identity is unique, no matter how many times the people in his life try to make him match their prejudices about him, or to make him meet their hopes for him.
This is a remarkable novel.
October 18, 2019
I'll give you all more thoughts on this in due time, but I do recommend it. Simply because I have NEVER read a book like this. It was quite the experience.
August 2, 2022
Beautifully written and narrated, this is story unites Nigeria and Utah in the story of a family searching for a better or perhaps different way to live. Their lives are fractured by the mother's mental illness and they propelled forward by the father's sheer strength of will.
The father is determined for them to succeed in America, which he views as racist and tells his children: "You must have a perfect American accent." He goes on to explain, "People can say anything they want about the way you look, about your skin but if you learn to speak better than them there is nothing they can do. They cannot prevent you from moving ahead."
The family evolves as the mother leaves and they gain a step-mother and half brothers. Tunde watches his step-mother's eyes, "Hoping the love inside would show itself to [him]. Sometimes [he] tried to convince [him]self that the love in her eyes was simply shy. [He] tried [his] best to draw it out." Tunde completes extra chores and works hard to get better grades to earn her love.
In his effort to improve their lives the father moves the family to what he calls an "emerging neighborhood." However, this seems to result in more friction between Tunde's father and step-mother.
"The love between them or the lack of love became the living, pulsing, all-consuming of my world." The children are witnesses to a fierce argument between their parents and remain rooted to the spot, as helpless bystanders. "Their words took flight and flapped angrily over our heads."
As an emerging adult Tunde struggles and at this point I wondered if he, like his mother before him, was battling mental illness. He wonders, "If my memories and my actual life experiences are diverging, where do I fit?" He decides that he needs help but he's not sure where this help should come from.
Tunde struggles with confidence and how others view him. "He studies so hard because he suspects that the only thing people value about him is his ability to memorize facts and perform well on tests."
When Tunde forms a relationship with a woman for the first time he questions her constant need to hold hands and asks himself, "Why must we constantly advertise how we feel about each other?" He would prefer that they keep their private expressions of love private. He thinks, "Our love is green and young. Its first tendrils tentatively poking up into the air. Maybe too much sun isn't a good thing now."
He worries, "She often holds my hand when we are talking as if her holding will ease more information from me and as I am talking I look down at our intwined hands and wonder if she actually has any idea what she is getting into."
When he travels to Nigeria to meet his extended family and sees them in person for the first time after years of them being a voice on the phone only: "Their faces are different from what I imagined. Each time someone speaks to me they cancel an alternative version in my mind. I quickly understand that these deaths are necessary. My relatives don't know it but they are clearing space in me for themselves."
By his grandparents graveside in Nigeria: "For a moment I can't believe that these austere stones are all that remain of their lives."
"My grandmother is the only person I know here. The only person I really know. For my entire life she was just a voice on the phone. Someone I loved but never saw."
The father is determined for them to succeed in America, which he views as racist and tells his children: "You must have a perfect American accent." He goes on to explain, "People can say anything they want about the way you look, about your skin but if you learn to speak better than them there is nothing they can do. They cannot prevent you from moving ahead."
The family evolves as the mother leaves and they gain a step-mother and half brothers. Tunde watches his step-mother's eyes, "Hoping the love inside would show itself to [him]. Sometimes [he] tried to convince [him]self that the love in her eyes was simply shy. [He] tried [his] best to draw it out." Tunde completes extra chores and works hard to get better grades to earn her love.
In his effort to improve their lives the father moves the family to what he calls an "emerging neighborhood." However, this seems to result in more friction between Tunde's father and step-mother.
"The love between them or the lack of love became the living, pulsing, all-consuming of my world." The children are witnesses to a fierce argument between their parents and remain rooted to the spot, as helpless bystanders. "Their words took flight and flapped angrily over our heads."
As an emerging adult Tunde struggles and at this point I wondered if he, like his mother before him, was battling mental illness. He wonders, "If my memories and my actual life experiences are diverging, where do I fit?" He decides that he needs help but he's not sure where this help should come from.
Tunde struggles with confidence and how others view him. "He studies so hard because he suspects that the only thing people value about him is his ability to memorize facts and perform well on tests."
When Tunde forms a relationship with a woman for the first time he questions her constant need to hold hands and asks himself, "Why must we constantly advertise how we feel about each other?" He would prefer that they keep their private expressions of love private. He thinks, "Our love is green and young. Its first tendrils tentatively poking up into the air. Maybe too much sun isn't a good thing now."
He worries, "She often holds my hand when we are talking as if her holding will ease more information from me and as I am talking I look down at our intwined hands and wonder if she actually has any idea what she is getting into."
When he travels to Nigeria to meet his extended family and sees them in person for the first time after years of them being a voice on the phone only: "Their faces are different from what I imagined. Each time someone speaks to me they cancel an alternative version in my mind. I quickly understand that these deaths are necessary. My relatives don't know it but they are clearing space in me for themselves."
By his grandparents graveside in Nigeria: "For a moment I can't believe that these austere stones are all that remain of their lives."
"My grandmother is the only person I know here. The only person I really know. For my entire life she was just a voice on the phone. Someone I loved but never saw."
January 4, 2020
I’m not in favor of long books, but this one felt like it needed to be longer and more developed. Periods of Tunde’s life were passed over as the book skipped from episode to episode. It wasn’t the image of an African immigrant family that I was expecting. There was sadness, but no grit. I kept waiting for something that never came. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
August 26, 2019
Tunde, the protagonist in this novel, epitomizes a search for self and meaning in a strange land. A land where his skin color separates him; where his family dynamics challenge him; and where pain and loss create a confused chasm where memories and predictability should have provided a solid foundation.
We follow him through changes and loss as he tries to make sense of a world that is, to him, often incomprehensible. His family exists in the space between acceptance and rejection, transplanted from Nigeria, looking for greater opportunity. In that space, the parents get lost, one to mental illness and the other to the elusive pursuit of "better". Tunde becomes collateral damage as they all struggle. One of my favorite quotes, roughly, was how he felt he was establishing "identity through negation--we are what they aren't".
The impact of his experiences molds Tunde, in ways he doesn't even recognize. A continuing theme is what is "real", as his memories and understanding were built on shifting sand, and he comes to trust nothing, not even his own thoughts, or his desires, or the solidity of a relationship.
It was a well written and captivating story, with emotional depth while avoiding gratuitous violence. An interesting twist on the narrative occurs when it switches between first, second and third person points of view, which could have jarred the reader, but didn't seem to lose me. It made sense within the context of the story. A bold and unusual move.
As I listened, I was struck again by how universal the feeling of not belonging has become. Whether one is an immigrant, or in a blended family, or adopted, or facing mental illness, or just a sore thumb human sticking out among those who seem more blended...the feeling of separation is one of our most challenging human realities. This novel nailed that inner experience. A 4.5 read.
We follow him through changes and loss as he tries to make sense of a world that is, to him, often incomprehensible. His family exists in the space between acceptance and rejection, transplanted from Nigeria, looking for greater opportunity. In that space, the parents get lost, one to mental illness and the other to the elusive pursuit of "better". Tunde becomes collateral damage as they all struggle. One of my favorite quotes, roughly, was how he felt he was establishing "identity through negation--we are what they aren't".
The impact of his experiences molds Tunde, in ways he doesn't even recognize. A continuing theme is what is "real", as his memories and understanding were built on shifting sand, and he comes to trust nothing, not even his own thoughts, or his desires, or the solidity of a relationship.
It was a well written and captivating story, with emotional depth while avoiding gratuitous violence. An interesting twist on the narrative occurs when it switches between first, second and third person points of view, which could have jarred the reader, but didn't seem to lose me. It made sense within the context of the story. A bold and unusual move.
As I listened, I was struck again by how universal the feeling of not belonging has become. Whether one is an immigrant, or in a blended family, or adopted, or facing mental illness, or just a sore thumb human sticking out among those who seem more blended...the feeling of separation is one of our most challenging human realities. This novel nailed that inner experience. A 4.5 read.
August 15, 2019
WHY DID THIS BOOK END?!?! Okay so I thought it a memoir 50% in; although, the book clearly states novel on the front but when I tell you, it would TAKE A MOST VIVID IMAGINATION to take someone on a journey like thissssss... there is simply no way that this isn’t a memoir. I enjoyed every moment of this book— there, I will just call it a book ok.
Let me just say that the way he describes things, I am taken back to Homegoing... both authors have a wonderful way with words and analogies that I smile and fawn over!!! My favorite part of the novel is when he just writes his College love interest’s name: over and over and over and over... I literally smiled at that moment and simply took it all in. What poetry!
There were glimmering parts to this book like when he speaks about hearing Lauryn Hill for the first time and simply coming undone... SAME for me with Mariah Carey— I mean, I became UNGLUED honey! I just loved this novel and all the references that I could catch. I almost see a parallel between it and Invisible Man x Ellison just in the way the main character carries on and perhaps that is just me and well, this IS MY review 🙃.
Overall, a beautiful book that I did not want to end. It’s in my tops too 💚💚💚 I’m on a roll y’all!
Let me just say that the way he describes things, I am taken back to Homegoing... both authors have a wonderful way with words and analogies that I smile and fawn over!!! My favorite part of the novel is when he just writes his College love interest’s name: over and over and over and over... I literally smiled at that moment and simply took it all in. What poetry!
There were glimmering parts to this book like when he speaks about hearing Lauryn Hill for the first time and simply coming undone... SAME for me with Mariah Carey— I mean, I became UNGLUED honey! I just loved this novel and all the references that I could catch. I almost see a parallel between it and Invisible Man x Ellison just in the way the main character carries on and perhaps that is just me and well, this IS MY review 🙃.
Overall, a beautiful book that I did not want to end. It’s in my tops too 💚💚💚 I’m on a roll y’all!
June 15, 2019
When the very hard decision is made to move to America in search of a better life, it is the hope of immigrants that their children will benefit from such an uprooting by assimilating into the new environment. Tunde's father made such a decision before he was even born, not realizing how wrong the decision to move to a small town in Utah would be for the native Nigerian and his increasingly fragile wife. Tunde does not even realize how different he and his family are until he goes to kindergarten, as the family lived hermetically, so when other kids rubbed his skin raw trying to get the color out, he really didn't understand. Thus began his life of search for identity, and increasingly, for memories of his past. Tope Folarin, a Rhodes Scholar and writer, has deemed this to be a novel, but he has mined his own life's journey for inspiration. From the departure of his Beatles-loving mother, the struggles of his father to provide for the family, through the experience of trying to win the love of a homesick stepmother and her sons, this sensitive man with the soul of a poet shares a story that rings with heartbreak and hope and ultimate redemption.
July 22, 2019
**********3.5 Stars**********
I'll admit this began as a page-turner but, somewhere around the halfway mark--when it became clear there was some confusion developing within the core of the main character (which I won't go into detail, due to its importance)--I temporarily lost interest as it became difficult to know what was important.
Tunde painfully longs to understand who he is, and where he fits, in a world he's inherited only by virtue of birth.
His parents, Nigerian-born, arrived in Utah with hopes of attaining the American dream of success and great fortune. Tunde's father eventually comes to the realization that whatever "dream" he's assumed was his wasn't actually meant for him. This realization leads to disillusionment for his wife-- which manifests itself as a darkness that breaks her psychologically--and she decides to escape the disappointment, along with her children, and return home.
Tunde's father eventually finds his wife and children holed up at a women's shelter. However, once it becomes clear his wife is no longer fit to raise their children, due to the mental issues exacerbated by her overall sadness, he brings the boys home.
His wife, too emotionally broken and physically tired to continue to live in a place where their Blackness is viewed as a negative, goes back to Nigeria, leaving Tunde and his younger brother alone with their father.
What follows from there is Tunde's attempt to understand how to live in a world where different women are left to fill the role his mother was unable to play. In time, and with knowledge of how unforgiving America can be to Blackness (no matter its origin), his father attempts to vicariously live the American dream through his sons: pushing them towards education and assimilation.
Hoping the former will open the door, to the success he never had, while the latter will ensure they're allowed to remain.
Tope Folarin weaves a captivating story of one man's search for acceptance in a world where his Blackness is considered a) a novelty, b) a crime, or c) an inconvenience. Tunde is a complex character where each layer uncovered only leads to more discussion.
Tunde constantly feels he doesn't belong, no matter how hard he tries-- a feeling that phone conversations, with the Nigerian grandmother he's never met, only serves to complicate-- and since his father has seemingly abandoned the idea of fostering familial connections to Nigeria, in favor of encouraging his sons to focus on American success, Tunde's turmoil over this genealogical unmooring are palpable; it's clear that much of the disconnect is about the lost relationship with his mother.
It was painful to see him search for maternal connection in every woman he met.
Any woman who thought him worthy of more than a passing glance.
While the relationship with his father was consistent, it was built upon Tunde's ability to be "a particular kind of Black man", which only added to the deficiency he felt within himself.
How can you be any kind of man when you're uncertain of the origins of that man? How can you understand who you are if a whole part of yourself is left unseen and unheard (i.e. his mother's sudden painful exit)?
By the end, Tunde begins to understand how important the answering of some of the lingering questions will be to his healing--via the coaxing of a new love--but the abruptness of that part of the journey, via an ending which felt, at best rushed left me unsatisfied; to have traveled so far with him, only to see the journey end in such a frustrating manner, was what decreased the rating for me, personally.
It's understood that a neat and tidy finish was not a probability because there was so much to sort out but there was too much left unresolved: conversations not had, relationships left unresolved, etc.
Where exactly could he go from where Folarin chose to end it?
The void left by the sudden ending didn't highlight the uncertainty of life, if that was the author's intention, rather it made it clear Folarin was more comfortable with the reader figuring it out than finding a way to do so himself--this reader felt Tunde deserved better than whatever I could imagine.
Overall, a strong offering, and one I am certain will find it's way into the hearts of many but one which fell short for me due to the way the author chose to bring things to a close.
I'll admit this began as a page-turner but, somewhere around the halfway mark--when it became clear there was some confusion developing within the core of the main character (which I won't go into detail, due to its importance)--I temporarily lost interest as it became difficult to know what was important.
Tunde painfully longs to understand who he is, and where he fits, in a world he's inherited only by virtue of birth.
His parents, Nigerian-born, arrived in Utah with hopes of attaining the American dream of success and great fortune. Tunde's father eventually comes to the realization that whatever "dream" he's assumed was his wasn't actually meant for him. This realization leads to disillusionment for his wife-- which manifests itself as a darkness that breaks her psychologically--and she decides to escape the disappointment, along with her children, and return home.
Tunde's father eventually finds his wife and children holed up at a women's shelter. However, once it becomes clear his wife is no longer fit to raise their children, due to the mental issues exacerbated by her overall sadness, he brings the boys home.
His wife, too emotionally broken and physically tired to continue to live in a place where their Blackness is viewed as a negative, goes back to Nigeria, leaving Tunde and his younger brother alone with their father.
What follows from there is Tunde's attempt to understand how to live in a world where different women are left to fill the role his mother was unable to play. In time, and with knowledge of how unforgiving America can be to Blackness (no matter its origin), his father attempts to vicariously live the American dream through his sons: pushing them towards education and assimilation.
Hoping the former will open the door, to the success he never had, while the latter will ensure they're allowed to remain.
Tope Folarin weaves a captivating story of one man's search for acceptance in a world where his Blackness is considered a) a novelty, b) a crime, or c) an inconvenience. Tunde is a complex character where each layer uncovered only leads to more discussion.
Tunde constantly feels he doesn't belong, no matter how hard he tries-- a feeling that phone conversations, with the Nigerian grandmother he's never met, only serves to complicate-- and since his father has seemingly abandoned the idea of fostering familial connections to Nigeria, in favor of encouraging his sons to focus on American success, Tunde's turmoil over this genealogical unmooring are palpable; it's clear that much of the disconnect is about the lost relationship with his mother.
It was painful to see him search for maternal connection in every woman he met.
Any woman who thought him worthy of more than a passing glance.
While the relationship with his father was consistent, it was built upon Tunde's ability to be "a particular kind of Black man", which only added to the deficiency he felt within himself.
How can you be any kind of man when you're uncertain of the origins of that man? How can you understand who you are if a whole part of yourself is left unseen and unheard (i.e. his mother's sudden painful exit)?
By the end, Tunde begins to understand how important the answering of some of the lingering questions will be to his healing--via the coaxing of a new love--but the abruptness of that part of the journey, via an ending which felt, at best rushed left me unsatisfied; to have traveled so far with him, only to see the journey end in such a frustrating manner, was what decreased the rating for me, personally.
It's understood that a neat and tidy finish was not a probability because there was so much to sort out but there was too much left unresolved: conversations not had, relationships left unresolved, etc.
Where exactly could he go from where Folarin chose to end it?
The void left by the sudden ending didn't highlight the uncertainty of life, if that was the author's intention, rather it made it clear Folarin was more comfortable with the reader figuring it out than finding a way to do so himself--this reader felt Tunde deserved better than whatever I could imagine.
Overall, a strong offering, and one I am certain will find it's way into the hearts of many but one which fell short for me due to the way the author chose to bring things to a close.
August 18, 2019
this was a 4.5 read
thoughts coming shortly
thoughts coming shortly
August 28, 2019
Hands down, and by a mile my favorite of 2019 so far. Tope Folarin is a revelation. I started by listening, then bought the print version. Listened, then read, then listened as I read. EXCELLENT narrator, EXCELLENT book. Highly recommended.
The protagonist, Tunde, is first generation American born to Nigerian parents. But his are not the overachieving, super-successful Nigerian parents of our stereotypes. No doubt they are ambitious strivers who emphasize education, and have come to America to fulfill their wildest dreams, but mental illness derails Tunde's parents' plans, fracture their family and send him, his brother and father into a nomadlike existence for a time. Unequipped to help his sons deal with their mother's absence, and to make a family without a wife, Tunde's father tries to reconstruct the nuclear family dream by bringing a new wife from Nigeria, with her own two boys. Together, for a time they make a patchwork quilt of four boys, and a mother and father who never quite fit together as seamlessly as Tunde's father intended. Tunde is painfully aware that his "new mother" does not love him as his own mother did, and misses her love, however imperfect, and even violent it became as she spiraled deeper into her illness.
Throughout it all, haunted by his mother's absence Tunde grows up feeling unmoored. He is at once too African, and not African enough; too American, and not American enough. Even his brother seems to assimilate more easily and leave him behind. And for a time, this duality and indecision about who he is (American? African?) contributes to Tunde wondering whether he has inherited his mother's disease. The reality of his life is occasionally so difficult or unsatisfactory that he invents new realities, and for a time struggles to distinguish one from the other. His journey from an insecure boy seeking a mother's love and a place in the world to a hyper-competent man who still lacks the ability to completely connect with his emotional self was so engaging I devoured it in a matter of hours.
It's a short book but packs in so much about the Black immigrant experience in America, that it was a wondrous reading experience. I smiled in recognition at Tunde's realization at differences between home culture and that of the society in which his family had made their home; felt the pain of his alienation from people who might look just like him but see him as 'other', and finally, I experienced the triumph of him beginning--after much discomfort and struggle--to carve out a comfortable identity for himself. I love this book. I'm sure I will visit it again, and again.
The protagonist, Tunde, is first generation American born to Nigerian parents. But his are not the overachieving, super-successful Nigerian parents of our stereotypes. No doubt they are ambitious strivers who emphasize education, and have come to America to fulfill their wildest dreams, but mental illness derails Tunde's parents' plans, fracture their family and send him, his brother and father into a nomadlike existence for a time. Unequipped to help his sons deal with their mother's absence, and to make a family without a wife, Tunde's father tries to reconstruct the nuclear family dream by bringing a new wife from Nigeria, with her own two boys. Together, for a time they make a patchwork quilt of four boys, and a mother and father who never quite fit together as seamlessly as Tunde's father intended. Tunde is painfully aware that his "new mother" does not love him as his own mother did, and misses her love, however imperfect, and even violent it became as she spiraled deeper into her illness.
Throughout it all, haunted by his mother's absence Tunde grows up feeling unmoored. He is at once too African, and not African enough; too American, and not American enough. Even his brother seems to assimilate more easily and leave him behind. And for a time, this duality and indecision about who he is (American? African?) contributes to Tunde wondering whether he has inherited his mother's disease. The reality of his life is occasionally so difficult or unsatisfactory that he invents new realities, and for a time struggles to distinguish one from the other. His journey from an insecure boy seeking a mother's love and a place in the world to a hyper-competent man who still lacks the ability to completely connect with his emotional self was so engaging I devoured it in a matter of hours.
It's a short book but packs in so much about the Black immigrant experience in America, that it was a wondrous reading experience. I smiled in recognition at Tunde's realization at differences between home culture and that of the society in which his family had made their home; felt the pain of his alienation from people who might look just like him but see him as 'other', and finally, I experienced the triumph of him beginning--after much discomfort and struggle--to carve out a comfortable identity for himself. I love this book. I'm sure I will visit it again, and again.
March 19, 2019
It wasn’t just the striking cover that attracted me. I’ve always liked immigration stories. Something about trading in one world for another, driven by pure ambitions, aspirations and desperations, hoping against all odds, striving to survive, to fit in, to prosper…I mean, that makes for some great stories. And this is one such story told by a young man who grew up in a Nigerian family in Utah of all places and as such Tunde becomes a person without a clearly defined character. Driven by his father to become the eponymous person, the kind of black man accepted and appreciated by a largely white society and yet at odds with his Nigerian legacy, Tunde grows up a man torn and this duality invades even his very memory until at the urging of his girlfriend he finally completes a journey to sort of unify all the aspects of his person. This was a compelling story. I especially enjoyed the more straightforward narrative of Tunde’s childhood. When it gets into adulthood, the author utilized some more experimental storytelling, both conceptually and narratively, and it made for an interesting, but not equally compelling read. Something about the stylistic change up made the book seem disjointed in a way. Maybe it’s because it’s been written over such a long time or maybe because of its autobiographical nature. Actually, the author’s bio doesn’t provide enough to speculate on the latter and one obviously mustn’t think one Nigerian American experience is very much like another. Like most kids, Tunde is thoroughly and mostly inadvertently mostly screwed over by his parents…his mother fails to adjust to her new country and goes violently insane, his father’s lack of any forethought or research lands then as the only black family for miles around time and time again as he hops from career to career, barely getting by. So Tunde grows up with great many challenges and yet acquits himself admirably, the book ends with him well on his way to becoming a kind of black man he can be proud of. Engaging, smart (albeit slightly uneven) story about race, memory and a complicated concept of self. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
August 5, 2019
The hallmark of this work is the creative manner in which Folarin tells the story. He breaks the novel up into sections by switching Tunde’s perspective. The immediate 1st person as he experiences an abusive period in his youth to the directive 2nd person that is used to speak to his naive younger self. And finally, the 3rd person when he finds himself removed emotionally from circumstances that are out of his control. These shifts are not aggravating and they don’t trip up the reader at all, but it feels like a natural representation of his evolution of growth.
Each step in his education, each move around the United States… gets Tunde closer to that turning point. The final expression of who is supposed to be. Is it the silent, yet malleable black man, the educated, strong, compassionate man, or the Nigerian-American who is biding his time in America until he is able to go back home? It may just be a combination of all three. At what point will the demand for confusing code-switching stop for this young man?
Overall, A Particular Kind of Black Man is a powerful reading experience that creates insight into the internal and external racial tensions of growing up as the son of African immigrants.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
For my full review: https://paulspicks.blog/2019/07/16/a-...
For all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog
Each step in his education, each move around the United States… gets Tunde closer to that turning point. The final expression of who is supposed to be. Is it the silent, yet malleable black man, the educated, strong, compassionate man, or the Nigerian-American who is biding his time in America until he is able to go back home? It may just be a combination of all three. At what point will the demand for confusing code-switching stop for this young man?
Overall, A Particular Kind of Black Man is a powerful reading experience that creates insight into the internal and external racial tensions of growing up as the son of African immigrants.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
For my full review: https://paulspicks.blog/2019/07/16/a-...
For all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog
September 3, 2019
“I soared, and I swam, and I dunked basketballs. No one ever told me that I was supposed to differentiate what I saw during the night from during the day, that I should privilege one over the other, so everything converged”.
Not alone in the dark but a young nigerian boy who knew of the state of Utah as his home but the voices trailing through the phone from Nigeria as his roots. Utah could not make his skin any lighter. Tunde faces several challenges from the day he squeezed through his mother’s womb. He faced racism before he know what it meant, he lost his mother to her own mind and watched her leave back to Nigeria. He lived with strangers, and watched his dad suffer and shed tears just so he can make a way for his 2 sons. A Particular Kind of Black Man reads as if it is a memoir but it’s jumps just as Tunde’s mind does. It is chaotic and interesting, but at times I did not want to read it. Their struggles in this story are so real and then as Tunde tries to decipher what is real in life, this story does not end with a solution or conclusion. It suddenly stops and you can leave it at that or let your thoughts finish the story for you.
Not alone in the dark but a young nigerian boy who knew of the state of Utah as his home but the voices trailing through the phone from Nigeria as his roots. Utah could not make his skin any lighter. Tunde faces several challenges from the day he squeezed through his mother’s womb. He faced racism before he know what it meant, he lost his mother to her own mind and watched her leave back to Nigeria. He lived with strangers, and watched his dad suffer and shed tears just so he can make a way for his 2 sons. A Particular Kind of Black Man reads as if it is a memoir but it’s jumps just as Tunde’s mind does. It is chaotic and interesting, but at times I did not want to read it. Their struggles in this story are so real and then as Tunde tries to decipher what is real in life, this story does not end with a solution or conclusion. It suddenly stops and you can leave it at that or let your thoughts finish the story for you.
October 27, 2019
I thought this book was amazing. There was so many interweaving themes going on at one time. There was Race, mental illness, identity construction , even love. What I like most is the diverging memory’s that Tulde had that question the very nature of his existence. It showed how a young man can conquer all the harshness of his life and go to college and become somebody. I also find the character of the mom very sad. The part when she over dose was to much for me. Also when she said “I m to sick for this place”. Which she said to Tulde. I also liked the part when she told Tulde “ I hate your father because he gave me hope”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2020
Usually I find books with unreliable narrators to be fascinating, but this one just didn't hit the "fascinating" mark for me. There were aspects of the story that I enjoyed such as the immigrant experience of a Nigerian family, the commentary on American racism and how jarring it must be for an immigrant once they realize that they are also counted in the Black category and no longer of their own country, mental illness, and the longing for home, but I enjoyed them in such small quantities that I can't say that I enjoyed the book as a whole.
August 15, 2019
A deceptively story of a black boy growing up in Utah and Texas with a struggling father, a mentally ill mother and, later, a harsh stepmother. There's more depth here than is first apparent, and I enjoyed the way Folarin weaves in his themes of memory reality and the importance of stories.
For a great article by Folarin, see: https://lithub.com/tope-folarin-on-th...
For a great article by Folarin, see: https://lithub.com/tope-folarin-on-th...
March 21, 2020
Another book where I was left confused and annoyed. This was not the book I was expecting. I definitely have more questions than answers. I don’t get what the author was trying to say however it is written very beautifully- it’s almost prose.
Tunde became a unreliable narrator in the middle of the book and there was any redeeming qualities. The reader doesn’t get to see the full arch of the man.
Tunde became a unreliable narrator in the middle of the book and there was any redeeming qualities. The reader doesn’t get to see the full arch of the man.
August 30, 2019
This was an interesting debut, but I can't say I really enjoyed it. It's an immigrant story, and focused on identity, which was fascinating, but I didn't feel it really ever resolved.
February 22, 2021
Excellent debut novel about a second-generation Nigerian-American boy, Tunde Akinola, growing up in Utah. Tunde's experience was totally unfamiliar to me, but it is described in such clear and painful detail that, as many other GR reviewers have noted, much of the book reads like a quite real and intense memoir. (I even checked the back cover a couple of times to confirm that the book said it was "Fiction." It did.) Then, maybe two-thirds of the way through, Tope Folarin departs from a straight memoir style. The unusual narrative devices that follow -- including a shift from first-person narration to second- and then third-person narrative (and then back to first) -- start to make you experience the story more as a work of fiction, although one that by this point has felt fully grounded in reality.
What Folarin does so well is make you see and feel what the American experience is like for Tunde and his Nigerian parents, who could hardly be more alien to their surroundings if they had landed from outer space. As the narrator, Tunde's perspective and experiences are conveyed most directly. For example, we see him being met on the street by a old Mormon lady who tells him that some day he will serve her in heaven; his early encounters with schoolmates who rub his skin to see if the black will come off; his eventual realization as a teenager that he has been brought up to be a "particular kind" of black man. But Folarin pulls off the neat trick of also getting you to understand and feel deeply for Tunde's father and mother, even though we see them only through the often uncomprehending eyes of the boy, or later, though the confused and sometimes resentful eyes of the young man. His parents bear the brunt of the difficulty of adjusting to their new life in America, and suffer in different ways.
It's a powerful and touching story. 4.5 stars.
What Folarin does so well is make you see and feel what the American experience is like for Tunde and his Nigerian parents, who could hardly be more alien to their surroundings if they had landed from outer space. As the narrator, Tunde's perspective and experiences are conveyed most directly. For example, we see him being met on the street by a old Mormon lady who tells him that some day he will serve her in heaven; his early encounters with schoolmates who rub his skin to see if the black will come off; his eventual realization as a teenager that he has been brought up to be a "particular kind" of black man. But Folarin pulls off the neat trick of also getting you to understand and feel deeply for Tunde's father and mother, even though we see them only through the often uncomprehending eyes of the boy, or later, though the confused and sometimes resentful eyes of the young man. His parents bear the brunt of the difficulty of adjusting to their new life in America, and suffer in different ways.
It's a powerful and touching story. 4.5 stars.
January 19, 2020
“what happens after happiness?”
fiction that reads as memoir. the search for self amidst trauma and memory. this novel touched on so many things, it played with form, syntax, and really genre. a times it felt as if i truly was reading a memoir and that tunde was a completely real person. i am of the mindset that perhaps that author has weaved some of his own life into this work, but who’s to say, right?
the most striking theme to me was the endless longing tunde felt throughout the book. he tried, as a teenager, to connect to the black american experience, to connect with his stepmother and siblings, to try and blend in with his peers and feel wanted and accepted. which likely stemmed from loss of his mother early on in life. yet, that always seemed outside of his reach, until he met noelle. but what are we except a character we have created to confront the world? so much of what tunde showed her was a reality he’d constructed to protect himself, and it could never be enough.
the splitting of memory, of self; these are things tunde struggled with as he’d lived most of his young life telling himself stories in order to survive. and when someone wanted in, when someone wanted the real tunde, he was unable to deliver as he couldn’t let go of his coping mechanism. he’d found happiness, but no one ever really knows what to do afterwards because what does happen after happiness? we’ve been taught to constantly chase it and once it even hints at disappearing we panic. still, there was hope for tunde at the end of this novel, which i won’t spoil; but it’s a beautiful moment of coming full circle for a particular kind of black man.
fiction that reads as memoir. the search for self amidst trauma and memory. this novel touched on so many things, it played with form, syntax, and really genre. a times it felt as if i truly was reading a memoir and that tunde was a completely real person. i am of the mindset that perhaps that author has weaved some of his own life into this work, but who’s to say, right?
the most striking theme to me was the endless longing tunde felt throughout the book. he tried, as a teenager, to connect to the black american experience, to connect with his stepmother and siblings, to try and blend in with his peers and feel wanted and accepted. which likely stemmed from loss of his mother early on in life. yet, that always seemed outside of his reach, until he met noelle. but what are we except a character we have created to confront the world? so much of what tunde showed her was a reality he’d constructed to protect himself, and it could never be enough.
the splitting of memory, of self; these are things tunde struggled with as he’d lived most of his young life telling himself stories in order to survive. and when someone wanted in, when someone wanted the real tunde, he was unable to deliver as he couldn’t let go of his coping mechanism. he’d found happiness, but no one ever really knows what to do afterwards because what does happen after happiness? we’ve been taught to constantly chase it and once it even hints at disappearing we panic. still, there was hope for tunde at the end of this novel, which i won’t spoil; but it’s a beautiful moment of coming full circle for a particular kind of black man.
August 21, 2019
Mixed feelings about this. I certainly recommend it, it's a very good debut novel. The first two thirds or so are really effective at immersing you in the childhood of a boy living in an dually alien culture, trying to cope with an immigrant father who isn't allowed to practice his profession and a mother who succumbs to mental illness trying to cope, isolated, in Utah. The narrative is excellent at conveying the various emotional states of fear, fun, uncertainty, anger, tentativeness, invasion of a stepmother and stepbrothers. The plot summary may sound grim, but in fact it is the love of the father for his sons that gives the strongest shape to this novel. There are amusing aspects to the family's struggles at times, and to the boy's struggles to try to learn to be black in America when he has no one to learn from. Also poignant aspects.
But the last third or so loses its focus. At one point there's an unfortunate switch to second person; luckily that doesn't last. I understand it was supposed to signal his disassociation from himself as he enters his late youth, but it wasn't the right solution. I hate second person. But I do understand that the character is facing up to the trauma he has experienced, that presents itself as unreliable memory and estrangement. I just didn't think it quite lived up to the first half. But Folarin is worth following on his next outing.
But the last third or so loses its focus. At one point there's an unfortunate switch to second person; luckily that doesn't last. I understand it was supposed to signal his disassociation from himself as he enters his late youth, but it wasn't the right solution. I hate second person. But I do understand that the character is facing up to the trauma he has experienced, that presents itself as unreliable memory and estrangement. I just didn't think it quite lived up to the first half. But Folarin is worth following on his next outing.
March 3, 2021
I was intrigued by the premise of this novel, and there are some admirable aspects to it...but there is also both an unfinished and an unedited quality to the book--it seems like the author doesn't really know what to do with his story, so he experiments with several different narrative styles, retells certain episodes and leaves some big chunks out, and ultimately it's up to the reader to make sense of it all. It reads at times like a memoir, with its insistent focus on the protagonist--we don't get any real sense of the motivations of the other characters or understand their points of view. And some parts just left me scratching my head (do we need one whole page with the main character's girlfriend's name repeated 200+ times?).
July 8, 2020
I would give this book 4.5*
I enjoyed the story, it drew me in straight away. I love how Folarin wrote about the complicated family dynamics. I wanted to know more about his mother and stepmother, I would have liked parts of the book from their perspective.
The writing style was very interesting, mostly written like a memoir but occasionally it shifted and Tunde was writing to his younger self or writing in the second person.
Lots of complex and fascinating themes touched on in this book like double consciousness, belonging, love, identity, mental illness. I would recommend and want to read more of Folarin’s writing.
I enjoyed the story, it drew me in straight away. I love how Folarin wrote about the complicated family dynamics. I wanted to know more about his mother and stepmother, I would have liked parts of the book from their perspective.
The writing style was very interesting, mostly written like a memoir but occasionally it shifted and Tunde was writing to his younger self or writing in the second person.
Lots of complex and fascinating themes touched on in this book like double consciousness, belonging, love, identity, mental illness. I would recommend and want to read more of Folarin’s writing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2019
I don't know what I even read here. It started out promising but took a sharp left turn and tanked.
August 3, 2023
A Particular Kind of Black Man was an interesting insight into how an American born child of another culture might grow up in the US. I found it fascinating to see how the family adapted to living in the states, and especially Utah. The beginning of the story was already heartbreaking, and I expected the ending to be the same. This was not realized, and while the ending was sad, it didn't leave me with many feelings. If you think you'll enjoy A Particular Kind of Black Man, go for it! But I found that it was not for me.
September 19, 2024
This book snuck up on me. I didn't have much in the way of expectation, and I thought I knew what I was getting into when I started it. But then I found my heart being warmed, tugged at, and broken!
This reads like a memoir. So much so that I must know what happened to characters in the novel (assuming they're real and not composites). I don't know what really happened in his upbringing, but this reads like it's heavily relying on truth. But there are some scenes that will stick with me for a while, namely the ice cream truck at the fair, the part where he falls in love, and the final image.
It's a vivid portrait of an immigrant experience, and as much of a peek into this world as a guy like me can have. Very well written, and will certain stir up emotion in anyone with a beating heart.
This reads like a memoir. So much so that I must know what happened to characters in the novel (assuming they're real and not composites). I don't know what really happened in his upbringing, but this reads like it's heavily relying on truth. But there are some scenes that will stick with me for a while, namely the ice cream truck at the fair, the part where he falls in love, and the final image.
It's a vivid portrait of an immigrant experience, and as much of a peek into this world as a guy like me can have. Very well written, and will certain stir up emotion in anyone with a beating heart.
July 15, 2021
I’m on a roll! Another fantastic book! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
March 16, 2020
Have you ever had a person tell you a story about their life but act like the story isn't really about them? Well, in my mind, that's what Tope Folarin did with this novel.
December 30, 2019
4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 This book was layered, interesting, painful, complicated, perspective-jumping, and poetic. I was immediately pulled in with what seemed like a memoir ( I heard the author speak and it started out as a memoir but morphed into a novel). There is so much going on- what the loss of a mother (even one who is less than ideal) does to a child’s sense of self, how a father’s unrealized dreams impact the way a son interacts with the world, how racism is so insidiously crippling and soul-destroying... this is a book I could, and should, read again some day. Contemplating and discussing the structure alone would be worthwhile. It was a really good book.
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