Cake

by D., Kenji Jasper (Editor)

“There’s a new player stepping into the street-lit spotlight, and he’s one to watch. . . . Urban libraries have to get Got .”— Library Journal , on D’s debut novel Got (starred review) It’s less than six months after the events of D’s first novel, Got , and our nameless narrator has vanished off the Brooklyn grid, only to end up in Atlanta. Yet trouble is shadowing him, and he is forced to make a life-or-death decision. Writing since the age of 8, D has never held a legitimate job in his life. His words, however, have appeared in VIBE and other urban publications. An Atlanta native, he currently lives in an ungentrified neighborhood near you.

Genres: Fiction

139 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

D is a pseudonym used by various authors, including novelist Kenji Jasper.

Reviews

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more like a 1.5 - I thougth Kenji Jasper wrote this under the pen name D but after reading it there's just no way. I forget what title of Jasper's I read in the last few months but this cannot be by the same author. It just can't.
I won't say this was horrible but it just wasn't any good. Very average, nothing standing out at all. It was almost like someone wrote a book about a few days of some boring guys life but thought "hey, this dude is boring - let me throw some crazy shit in here to wake this up a little."
No. That doesn't work. If I was Jasper I wouldn't want my name on this.

Edit - 4/5/10 - I found out that Jasper did indeed write this under the pen name "D". Needless to say I'm surprised but as I told a friend of mine, Snow was so good and such a breath of fresh air, that even after reading this I can't count him out. I will read another of Jasper's book - I'm just not sure that it'll be Got (the prequel to this.)

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, I didn't hate it. I thought the use of the second person was going to put me off, and it didn't. I was actually drawn more into the story. It was well written for what it was and it was very grounded in reality outside of some minor things I would quibble with, like why do people not seem to call the police in some obvious 'call the police' scenes. I would read more from the author.

[Michael Lindgren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cake is a smart, speedy little bomb of noir fiction by a writer whose nom de plume is simply “D.” This slim novella is the latest offering from a new “street-lit” imprint called The Armory, from edgy Brooklyn house Akashic, and if you detect a whiff of coded language in the term “street-lit,” then you won’t be surprised to find that Cake is the unapologetic story of a young black drug dealer and a week in his violent world.

The anonymous narrator has fled to Atlanta after a murderous drug deal gone wrong flushes him out of Brooklyn, and despite half-hearted efforts to go straight, he inevitably gets caught up in the same hustle. When the narrator’s bungling cousin skips town, he is left holding the bag on a small-time drug operation that quickly escalates into a gang war. The maneuvering of the rival factions is relatively conventional crime-thriller stuff, but D’s descriptions of the atmosphere — the hopped-up cars, strip clubs, seedy apartments and motel parking lots — are quick and vivid. The dialogue sounds, to a bookish middle-class white man at least, authentically clipped and slangy. When the book accelerates toward its violent denouement and a final, jarring twist, there is no denying that D has mastered the tightly plotted structure of the genre.

The only criticism one could make of this mayhem-filled book is that, paradoxically, it perhaps doesn’t go quite far enough into the darkness at its heart. For all his badass hip-hop bravado, D retains an old-fashioned Raymond Chandler sense of character: he is very careful to preserve the moral center of his hero, who gets involved against his better judgment out of loyalty, and who never kills unless he has to. It would be hard to say for sure, but I suspect that a true gangster would be ugly on the inside and out, and no better than his surroundings. Whether this represents a failure of fictional nerve is hard to say. What we can say is that Cake updates the crime thriller with juice and grit to spare. From THE L MAGAZINE, July 9, 2008

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay so another recommedation on urban fiction from my librarian friends--shout out DC MLK library LOL and okay I admit they told me it was a part two but that reading part one wasnt neccessary but even still I didnt really care for this book all that much BUT it really wasnt a bad short read..It was different for sure.., for one the main character is never named, described or anything it is just a man's thoughts as he navigates the world and tries to keep his head above water amidst his own secrets and shame..The story starts with a man on a train heading from Brooklyn to Atlanta and for this I loved the book as I am originally from NY but have close friends in Georgia I actually know and recognized alot of the landmarks mentioned in both places and thought that was neat, very accurate and current..anyways okay so the main character is headed, he thinks, away from a life of trouble into a safe, quiet country environment by moving in with his only family left-a cousin and his mother. After moving into their house and enrolling for school he settles into having a quiet life which may even include getting involved with a beautiful local girl who is just fast enough to keep his interest and worth getting to know..Okay so things go fine until the day he accompanies his cousin on a drug deal gone bad and everything changes dramatically and suddenly for the worst with the past with both his and his cousin's old sins and wrongs coming back to haunt them and settle old scores..I must say it made me read and finish in a day and a half but did I relish the story, the characters, the scene, anything--..hmm no not really but that doesnt mean that I dont think it was an interesting and real attempt at telling a story of gritty, grimy, bloody street life and for that I can appreciate it..maybe I kind of like rediscovering the urban literature genre or maybe next I will escape back in time...aah just love the option of all books I can handle with my free library card :)

[ABC Group · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as his first novel. I read this in a day. The narrative just isn't as strong as Got. But, like Got, this books is chop full of typos and that kills the reading experience.