There’s nothing like a Black salesman on a mission.
An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.
After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, 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, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.
(view spoiler)[ hmmm. I'm glad they are pushing him out of his comfort zone and making him reach for more but yikes, the guy coming in the room saying the stockholders are breathing down their neck. THAT's not a good sign!
If they are selling a vision, does that mean they aren't really selling anything, just an idea? (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ oooh man, something is definitely fishy about this company
and that training was awful
I hope his mom is okay, I wonder what's going on . . . and he's about to be in deep trouble for missing that special dinner/party they planned. yikes (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ wow this was a rough section for Buck he's definitely blown up his own life and is now all in I wonder what working for this other guy entails
but now he's higher up in the one. I hope, in this next part, he raises others up instead of taking others down
that break up was tough. the loss of his mom is rough. oof (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ yay! he's reconnecting with everyone and reaching out to help others. I love this the companies were slowly eating his soul (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ ugh, I'm so sad it was Trey who betrayed him and Rhett. Ugh
but I love that he persevered. I hate that he did time even though he didn't do anything AND it makes me feel like Clyde won (and I hate that) this was still such a good read! (hide spoiler)]
An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.
After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, 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, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.