Advertisement
Books

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour: fast-paced, energetic and confident

Mateo Askaripour’s novel Black Buck is an energetic and fast-paced debut into the literature sphere.

New Yorker Mateo Askaripour’s funny, fast-talking debut novel Black Buck will have you tripping over your thoughts. The superfast wit, the snappy dialogue, the pleasure it takes in its own chutzpah – it’s all there from the confident start of this seductive book. 

Darren is an unambitious 22-year-old Starbucks employee and comic books fan with skin the “rich caramel” colour of a Werther’s Original, and teeth “status quo and powerful, also known as white and straight”. But when he’s sweet-talked into an elite job with a hi-tech start-up he evolves, Peter Parker-style, into cool hot Buck, “the Muhammad Ali of sales”, swiftly ramping up clients like a Black Wolf of Wall Street.

Swept up in his own awesomeness, he loses his grasp of what he really cares about, and when a tragic reminder smacks him in the face, he’s forced to rethink his life. Like most debuts, there are times when clichés are presented as revelations. But this book has the energy of a puppy spaniel, and the heart of close-knit family under fire. Oh, and be sure to read the delightful acknowledgments; they’ll leave you rooting for future star Askaripour even more. 

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour is out on May 27 (Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99)

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Never miss an issue

Take advantage of our special subscription offer. Subscribe from just £9.99 and never miss an issue.

Recommended for you

Read All
Hedonist ex-MP Victor Grayson tried to expose corruption and scandal. Then he disappeared forever
Corruption

Hedonist ex-MP Victor Grayson tried to expose corruption and scandal. Then he disappeared forever

Top 5 gritty thrillers, chosen by viral sensation and best-selling author Lloyd Devereux Richards
Books

Top 5 gritty thrillers, chosen by viral sensation and best-selling author Lloyd Devereux Richards

The Summer We Ate Off the China by Devin Jacobsen review – digging for deepest meaning
Books

The Summer We Ate Off the China by Devin Jacobsen review – digging for deepest meaning

How four women raged a secret propaganda war against the Nazis during World War II
World War II

How four women raged a secret propaganda war against the Nazis during World War II

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue