Through writing, Malo found reading, and the more he read, the more he understood. Malo was saved by a blank page and a pencil they were the tools that he used to express whatever was pinned up inside of him. You’re either covering it, laughing it off, kicking it, kissing it, busting it for some white man at the job, or getting some!’” The style of writing used in this novel is wildly original Asante seemlessly bounces from moments that are gut-wrenchingly visceral, to tear-enducing emotional struggles, all perfectly-woven together to make one cohesive piece of work.Īsante successfully attempts to transalte the hardships of life as a black youth, but rather than simply exploit the lifestyle, Asante offers a solution: knowledge & expression.
Asante masterfully controls the environment he wants us to see with such images, and a brilliant choice of diction that never fails to illuminate the main character, and, somehow, also manages to further build the world around him: “He scrubbed the top of my head like a lotto scratch-off. Change hangs in the air like the sneaks on the live wires behind my crib ” the novel is chock-full of vivid imagery like this.
Outside is the color of corn bread and blood. The novel is immediately enthralling, transporting me inside the streets of Philadelphia from the first two sentences–“The fall in Killadelphia. Yes, the novel follows the basic storyline that most urban stories follow–a black kid that lives in the ghetto is abandoned by their father and they have to find themselves amidst the drugs and violence that plague their community–but Buck offers much more context and heart, separating it from the run-of-the-mill “black novel ” and, the story is actually true! Dealing with all-to-relevant topics such as street violence, mental health, oppression, gang affiliation, drugs, sex, and racism, Buck delivers a convincing, and seemingly-accurate depiction of life for young, African-American male living in an urban society affected by the deep roots of poverty and westernization.īeing a young, African-American male myself, I have heard many tales and seen many movies about the struggle of the young black man in America, so when I picked up Buck, I didn’t expect it to be such an original and eye-opening body of work. Malo manages to overcome these circumstances, even being abandoned by his father, through the power of literacy, completely changing his world-view and setting himself on the road to redemption. He turns to the streets for guidance, getting himself involved in all types of antics that prove to be very harmful to his future. Malo (Asante’s character’s name in the book) goes down the path of destruction after his older brother, Uzi, is arrested. Asante’s memoir, Buck, details Asante’s life as a young boy growing up in the harsh environment of Philadelphia.
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