Brooklyn writer Mateo Askaripour launches his debut novel, Black Buck, at this virtual book talk. This crackling, satirical debut follows a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems. After enduring a “hell week” of training, unambitious Darren reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game. Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America’s workforce; it is a propulsive debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.
Nafissa Thompson-Spires, award-winning author of the story collection Heads of the Colored People, joins Askaripour in conversation at this virtual launch event, which also features special guest Lena Hamilton.