Friday Black

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A piercingly raw debut story collection from a young writer with an explosive voice; a treacherously surreal, and, at times, heartbreakingly satirical look at what it's like to be young and black in America.
From the start of this extraordinary debut, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's writing will grab you, haunt you, enrage and invigorate you. By placing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, Adjei-Brenyah reveals the violence, injustice, and painful absurdities that black men and women contend with every day in this country.
These stories tackle urgent instances of racism and cultural unrest, and explore the many ways we fight for humanity in an unforgiving world. In "The Finkelstein Five," Adjei-Brenyah gives us an unforgettable reckoning of the brutal prejudice of our justice system. In "Zimmer Land," we see a far-too-easy-to-believe imagining of racism as sport. And "Friday Black" and "How to Sell a Jacket as Told by Ice King" show the horrors of consumerism and the toll it takes on us all.
Entirely fresh in its style and perspective, and sure to appeal to fans of Colson Whitehead, Marlon James, and George Saunders, Friday Black confronts readers with a complicated, insistent, wrenching chorus of emotions, the final note of which, remarkably, is hope.
"An unbelievable debut, one that announces a new and necessary American voice."--New York Times Book Review
"An excitement and a wonder: strange, crazed, urgent and funny."--George Saunders
A National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" honoree, chosen by Colson Whitehead
Winner of the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for Best First Book

Author: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Publisher: Mariner Books
Published: 10/23/2018
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.30w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781328911247


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 05/01/2018 pg. 45
Publishers Weekly 07/09/2018
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2018 pg. 5
Library Journal 08/01/2018 pg. 91
Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview 08/15/2018 pg. 4
Booklist 09/01/2018 pg. 41
BookPage 11/01/2018

About the Author
NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH has an MFA from Syracuse University. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications, including Guernica, Printer's Row, and Breakwater Review, where ZZ Packer awarded him the Breakwater Review Fiction Prize.