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A Particular Kind of Black Man
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
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Publisher's Summary
**One of Time’s 32 Books You Need to Read This Summer**
An NPR Best Book of 2019
An “electrifying” (Publishers Weekly) debut novel from Rhodes Scholar and winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing about a Nigerian family living in Utah and their uneasy assimilation to American life.
Living in small-town Utah has always been an uncomfortable fit for Tunde Akinola’s family, especially for his Nigeria-born parents. Though Tunde speaks English with a Midwestern accent, he can’t escape the children who rub his skin and ask why the black won’t come off. As he struggles to fit in, he finds little solace from his parents who are grappling with their own issues.
Tunde’s father, ever the optimist, works tirelessly chasing his American dream while his wife, lonely in Utah without family and friends, sinks deeper into schizophrenia. Then one otherwise-ordinary morning, Tunde’s mother wakes him with a hug, bundles him and his baby brother into the car, and takes them away from the only home they’ve ever known.
But running away doesn’t bring her, or her children, any relief; once Tunde’s father tracks them down, she flees to Nigeria, and Tunde never feels at home again. He spends the rest of his childhood and young adulthood searching for connection - to the wary stepmother and stepbrothers he gains when his father remarries; to the Utah residents who mock his father’s accent; to evangelical religion; to his Texas middle school’s crowd of African-Americans; to the fraternity brothers of his historically black college. In so doing, he discovers something that sends him on a journey away from everything he has known.
Sweeping, stirring, and perspective-shifting, A Particular Kind of Black Man is “wild, vulnerable, lived…A study of the particulate self, the self as a constellation of moving parts” (The New York Times Book Review).
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What listeners say about A Particular Kind of Black Man
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Kay Dee
- 11-17-19
Outstanding.
The writing is gorgeous. The story is that of the son of Nigerian immigrants growing up in Utah and Texas, then into young adulthood. Folarin expertly draws the reader into his character’s mind and we experience the poignancy of every moment. It will touch you deeply. And The Audible narration is extraordinary
1 person found this helpful
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- Kinjerez
- 09-24-19
Indeed he was a particular kind of Blackman
An interesting read couldn’t stop reading until I was done. I am a particular kind of Blackman
1 person found this helpful
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- Jeremiah
- 03-03-21
His Story is My Story!
Tope told his story as our story in such a beautifully nuanced way. As a first generation Yoruba-Nigerian American, every layer of this vulnerable fictional narrative was a glowing and growing mirror of my life. I read/listened to this book with ferocious intensity and introspection. Tope does an amazing job breaking down the emotive complexities in being a peripatetic Black male diasporan. The book was both affirming and healing to read.
I love this book so much I’ve just bought the physical copy to read again. And will like send copies to all my close male friends.
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- Tipme
- 06-07-20
A beautiful story with an immaculate performance
The twists and turns and realness of the adventures were captivating, excellent performances from the orator.
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- M. J. Leake
- 12-29-19
A youngmans' journey
I was impressed with the author's open and direct admissions of a life filled with so many tragic disappointments. I found the author's writing slightly poetic, and I expect another memoir in 10-20 years.
The author's written perspective revealed how he tried to find himself as a young college black man and the reason for a family secret.
I highly recommend this novel for young men and women below the age of 40 as the author of the novel provides a written perspective of his life journey that many people will see within themselves.