So, welcome back to Drunk Book Reviews. I
am here today to talk about Friday Black,
which, as you might notice is uh, Black Friday
but reversed. [laughs] Um, that's because
one of the major themes of this book is talking
about retail. Um, he also talks about consumerism.
He has a couple dystopian stories in here.
And then also um, one of the main ones I feel
like, kind of a thread running throughout
the stories is just existing as a Black man
in, like, a white world. My favorite story out of
this book was the first one, which is called
The Finkelstein 5. Which is about a white
man who murders these five Black kids that're
hanging out outside of a public library with
a chainsaw [scoffs], because he's "protecting
his kids." And then it talks about the court
case that immediately follows and it is heavily
satirical, but it's just great. Like, the
points, the commentary that he makes on like,
the justice system and, y'know, the way it's
biased towards, like, white people, and also
just like police brutality and, y'know, just
existing in spaces where you're always seen
as a threat. I honestly think everyone should
read it, because if you're white you can learn
something about like, kinda like the oppressive
atmosphere, how it feels to just exist in
those spaces. And then also if you're Black,
you're gonna find it funny AND sad, because
it's so accurate. Like he just... just shows
how, like, what a terrible state like the world
is in today and, I dunno, it's just like,
relatable. So I think honestly like everyone
should read that story, even if you like don't
read the rest of the book, that story is like
gold. I mean, this is a really short book,
and I think if I had to describe it in one
word, I would say "thought-provoking." It's
honestly like, the stories are so -
{Adam (in stage whisper): That's two words!} Thought-provoking
has a dash in it. {Adam: It still qualifies
as one word?} I think so. {Adam: Okay, my
bad.} WOW. White ignorance! No I'm just -[laughs]
I'm just kidding. I feel like he packs such
a punch into like such a short space that
it's - I dunno - you kinda need time to like
digest it. Like I could only read like two
or 3 of these in a day. It's not one of those
things where I could just plow through it.
So if you want something where you actually
like, it makes you stop and think and have
to like, sit with it for a little bit, then
you should probably read this. I feel like
he leaves the story where it's not always,
like, completely clear what happened, but
it's not one of those where it'll piss you
off with how basically the author didn't choose
to end the story. I fucking hate that. It's
not like he didn't choose to end it, it just
kinda leaves you wondering - he ends it, but
it just kinda leaves you wondering like what it
means. So, I would say if you're a fan of
like, where it's up to interpretation, or
like an ambiguous ending, read it. Cuz he
kinda does that a lot, I noticed. I really
was not expecting to like this as much as
I did, just because I don't usually read short
stories, and if I do, I usually feel like the collections
are really weird and just... I dunno, I haven't
really found I guess a collection that really
resonated at all, but I really liked this.
And if you work in retail, also read this,
because [laughs], yeah. His stories - the
Friday Black one, which is what the book is
named for - is he's basically defending off
these kinda like zombies, working at a store,
with like this really long pole. And he just
like has to get them what they want. I mean
obvbiously it's like a parody of like, Black Friday
and stuff, but it's pretty great. He has a
couple in there like dealing with that type
of work. Definitely like a unique voice I
feel like, and really clear, like, vision,
strong vision and execution, so yeah. When
this isn't as new and the price goes down,
I might buy a copy of it, just cuz I loved
the first story so much and the other ones,
honestly - honestly one of 'em I still don't
even know what it means. The other ones I
feel like I got them, but it's maybe worth
a repeat read, which I NEVER say EVER, cuz
I don't really reread books at all, like,
since becoming an adult. I feel like it's
just a waste of time. Most books are able to - you're able
to comprehend on one read; you don't really
need to read it again. I should've looked
up how to say this guy's name. I don't wanna
be like, "oh, I'm gonna try to pronounce these
white author's names, but I'm not gonna try
to pronounce, y'know, someone that has what I think
is an African name." Yeah, wanna work on that.
{Adam: Wow, that nature is so cool, man! Lemme
see if it'll let me touch it. Oh!} Jesus, now
I have to start my sentence over and I don't
know what I was saying.
{Adam: About being a Black man in a white universe or something.}
[laughs] In a white universe?! Wow, I said world,
but okay. You're right, it's a white universe.
{Adam: No, no no no no!} [laughs] I'm dead,
this is the quality content I need.
