Review: Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Published: January 2021

Darren has been working at Starbucks for four years. The shop is in the lobby of a Manhattan office building and he frequently has the same customers. Rhett Daniels is one of them. When Darren convinces Rhett to change his regular drink order to something that will make his day go smoother, Rhett decides Darren must come and work for him. Darren soon realizes he is the only black person at the company. They change his name to Buck and he becomes a different person. A person, his family, friends and girlfriend no longer recognize. When tragedy strikes, Darren is forced to take a closer look at the life he is living and decides to take a different avenue. He decides to train more people who look like him, to be in positions held by white people.

This story had me hooked from the very beginning. It has been compared a lot to The Wolf of Wall Street. I listened to the audio and the narrator they picked for this book was spot on. If you have never heard the author talk about his book, the passion he has for it, then listen to him and then listen to this book and you will see what I mean. I love how Darren talks to the reader in this book. It makes you feel like you are on this journey with him. He gives you advice along the way and it made me feel like I could go out and conquer the world.

I was able to listen to this 12 hour audiobook in two days, so that should give you an indication of how good it was. Whether you listen or read this book, it is a must read. I want a physical copy of the book now, because there were so many quotable moments, that I was not able to capture by listening to the audio. Something I learned from listening to the author speak, is that a lot of the names for the white people in this book were taken from people who were significant in enslavement history.

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