Genre: Comedy / Satire

Pages: 386

First published: 2021

Original language: English

The plot: Darren, an unambitious 22 year old, works at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown Manhattan office building. He lives with his mother in their Brooklyn brownstone, and spends much of his time outside of work with Soraya, his girlfriend.

A chance meeting with Rhett Daniels, the CEO of Sumwun, Manhattan’s hottest tech start up, leads to a role within the exclusive sales team. The only Black salesperson in the company, Darren learns quickly and in a matter of weeks has transformed into Buck, a ruthless, uncompromising salesman who is unrecognisable to his family and friends.

As Buck hatches a plan to help more Black people enter the sales force, the scene is set for a chain of events that is by turns bizarre and game-changing.

What did I think of this book?

It was strange. It starts off well, takes a sharp turn in the second part of the book, before going completely crazy in the final third.

Parts of Black Buck reminded me of The Wolf of Wall Street (an innocent young man is drawn into the world of business, quickly discovers an aptitude for sales, and degenerates into someone who is all but unrecognisable from the character we meet in the opening pages).

It was sold as a comic novel with elements of satire, but I didn’t find much to laugh at. The first half of the book is a sensibly paced story about a young, ambitious man finding his way in the world, developing new skills and discovering what it takes to succeed in the cutthroat world of tech sales. But the second half of the book lets it down badly, descending into chaos and an unbelievable story line. I was close to giving up on this book altogether, but I’d reached the point where I was committed to the characters and had to see it through!

What was most interesting about this book?

The culture of sales – the techniques used in selling a product or service, the big egos, the sheer immorality on display amongst those in pursuit of deals – was, sadly, not unfamiliar to me. I briefly worked in sales, and hated it. I was not like Darren, with a natural gift for persuasion and an ability to talk anyone into doing anything. In a culture of big personalities and bigger egos, I shrank like laundry in hot water. I was terrible at phone sales – I prefer a face to face connection – and simply lacked the agression and hunger needed to close sales and step over others in pursuit of the next deal.

I read much of this book with a stony expression on my face. I felt glad that I had long since left that world behind!

But I do have a great deal of admiration for those who thrive in the world of sales. It takes resilience, determination, passion and guts to be successful in that world, and in the early pages of the novel I found myself rooting for Darren, as his motivations were those of many of us: to make a better life for himself and his family. But by the second third of the novel he had become ruthless, manipulative and frankly, unpleasant. I stopped rooting for him and found myself switching off. (I am conscious that may have been the point)

What am I going to take away from this book?

That morals and integrity are the most important values we can possess, and holding onto them doesn’t make you a failure. It’s an unfortunate fact of our world that those who lack them tend to succeed more than those who possess them. Black Buck is very much a morality tale in that sense.

Will I enjoy this book?

There’s a certain type of reader who loves stories like Black Buck – they might be in sales themselves, or possess similar qualities – but I am not one of them. Books like this one are often critically acclaimed, and admired by those who read them, but rarely a source of joy.

Read this one, admire it, but you’ll be unlikely to truly enjoy it – that is my honest advice.

Rating: 3/5