Friday Black Audiobook By Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah cover art

Friday Black

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Friday Black

By: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Narrated by: Corey Allen, Carra Patterson
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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, and 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 listeners with a complicated, insistent, wrenching chorus of emotions, the final note of which, remarkably, is hope.

©2018 Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (P)2018 Recorded Books African American Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Comedy Short Story Heartfelt Witty
Brilliant Storytelling • Compelling Characters • Appealing Voices • Thought-provoking Stories • Creative Writing
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
Authentic story lines
thought provoking
requires are critical mind to understand the depth of his work

Memorable

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I had read that this book if short stories contained a lot of violence, and I tolerate violence well. But these stories for the most part took on a futuristic and absurd lens so that people were eviscerated and their lives seemed meaningless. The first 2/3 were manageable, not so the last.
I hope I don't sound ignorant as a white reader-i have read reviews where these haunted stories evoke a black experience that is surreal in its gruesomeness-and I can recognize this quality in many of the stories, however, for me, it rendered life as too horrific to even imagine. Perhaps that's the point.

More than violent

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Was a fun listen, the narrators performed excellently and added a depth to the stories themselves. The stories describes life in a violent dystopia, showing the perseverance of good and bad of the human spirit in such a setting. While the stories do not transcend the narrative, they are an absolute blast (or heart wrench) to listen to

Simple stories told in an ultra violent world

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In general, I like over-the-top. And, on principle, I like ethical fiction, literature that tries to amplify the wrongs of a culture so we can see our way to end them.

Friday Black is both over-the-top and ethical. It’s just, well, perhaps a little too over-the-top.

Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah has a method here, and it works well in small doses. Basically, he takes a metaphor and reifies it.

These are not small does, however. They are every story, and the volume in each is turned up close to 11.

If you’re a retail worker at a mall on Black Friday, and the customers seem out of control, imagine them as a zombie horde intent on buying whatever items the marketers have set out for them. If you’re a man lamenting his role in urging his partner to get an abortion, imagine him walking around with the residue of his two fetuses (who talk to him).

The great exception here, or more appropriately the story that does this best, is the widely acknowledged “Finkelstein Five.” That one is both the most ambitious – it imagines an America proud of itself for the Trayvon Martin shooting – and the most impressively accomplished. We get a young man protagonist who, angered by an analogous shooting of five unarmed African-American youths, gradually allows himself to be radicalized.

The anger seethes in this story, and it seems to give license to the stylistic hyperbole. (I suppose it’s the lack of such immediate anger that causes me to lose patience with some of the other stories.) This feels like a legitimate echo of Richard Wright, Black anger unleashed on the page. (I’m not saying this is at the level of Wright, but I do think it’s a worthy heir to that literary tradition.)

The story may have some flaws – it is, still, blunt, and it ends abruptly – but it has real power as well. Enough power, I’d say, that I’d consider teaching it in a college class some day.

The rest of the collection, though, while it has intriguing stylistic moments and at times channels a compelling anger in other directions, seems largely adolescent to me. Over-the-top has its place, but so does subtlety, and I could use a bit more of that here.

One Sparkling Story in Over-the-top Collection

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Friday Black is a collection of stories with some unique takes on current events/situations. The author does a nice job painting the pictures of the stories to pull
you in.
It took me a while to get through the book. not because it wasn't good, but because they were nice
and short stories that also makes you wantta think about it for a little
So this is good to pick up, read a story then do something else..
In 2 minds about how the narrator did.. Sometimes, it was ok and sometimes his tone made me tune out..

Unique take on current events/situations

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If intense stories give you hives, stay away, but if you have the stomach to deal with modern life as experienced by a lot of fabulous characters, where the volume knob on the stories is turned to eleven, then you're likely to enjoy this. I had to read it in small installments, more or less one story a day, and they were profoundly good, and disturbing reflections of the modern world, maybe with a bit of a fun-house mirror, but maybe less than we'd like to acknowledge. If you are put off by violence, stay away.

Woof, this is intense stuff.

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these stories left me frozen several times and calling my dad once, which honestly sucked

a lil too powerful

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I loved listening to this collection of stories. The writing is superb and the narration is on point. Completely Blacktastic!

Fantastic read

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Should be required reading. So full of depth and relevancy I wish I'd saved it for a bookclub - I’m dying to discuss even one (your choice!) of the stories from this collection. I am shaken and brain tingly in the most horrifyingly fascinating/satisfying ways possible. Carmen Maria Machado + George Saunders + Black Mirror vibes. Adjei -Brenyah is a finely honed mind that seems to effortlessly shape intricate speculative dimensions of our society while prompting one “too true” dark humor chuckle after another. This author is a master. I am inspired to live life more courageously because of this book.

Necessary and Enthralling

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Truly tender and raw, vibrant, imaginative and salty in all the right ways. Love this book and hope as many people as possible read it. This is a collection for the ages.

Incredible and poignant collection

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