Friday Black
Remarkable
Creative
Refreshing

Friday Black

A piercingly raw debut story collection from a young writer with an explosive voice; a treacherously surreal, and, at times, heartbreakingly satirical look at what it's like to be young and black in America.
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Reviews

Photo of Monicap
Monicap@insult_the_glory
3 stars
Apr 29, 2024

Ok. So I figure most short story collections are vaguely hit-or-miss, but I also read, like, half of this in February and the other half in October and I defenitely stopped reading in the middle of one of the stories which tittle and first half I did not recollect but didn't start over soooo In general, I defenitely enjoyed to stories with scifi-esque elements more Zimmer Land, Friday Black, Light Spitter, and Through the Flash, just because I was more drawn to those stories conceptually. I think the story that will stick with me the longest is the first story, The Finkelstein 5, for just being such a mirror to the present moment. I always enjoy stories the examine the miseries of retail work, because they make me (as a retail worker) feel seen: Friday Black (again), How to Sell a Jacket as Told by Iceking, In Retail, and The Lion and the Spider. I don't know, but I think The Lion and the Spider may be the story with the second most staying power, at least for me? Idk how to review short story collections. I don't really recall any of the other stories from the first half that I read in February... I'm looking at the titles and ehh???? This review is more for me anyway, so who cares, but I will do better next short story collection I read

Photo of Crick
Crick@jalynn
0.5 stars
Feb 1, 2024

Well written traums porn for the yt gaze

Photo of Dennis Jacob Rosenfeld
Dennis Jacob Rosenfeld@rosenfeld
2 stars
Aug 18, 2023

A couple of the stories are amazing, but most of them are too on the nose for my taste.

Photo of Lindsay
Lindsay@schnurln
5 stars
Apr 14, 2023

Favorites:
- "The Finkelstein 5"
- "The Era"
- "Zimmer Land"
- "In Retail"

+7
Photo of Jennifer Dieter
Jennifer Dieter@jdeets03
4 stars
Dec 30, 2021

I finished this book and immediately looked for reviews from people who are smarter than me to help me fully understand what’s going on in these stories. Spoiler alert: there’s a lot.

Photo of Daryl Houston
Daryl Houston@dllh
2 stars
Sep 30, 2021

I really wanted to like this one, but I found much of the prose just plain prosaic, the stories generally meh, and the effort on the whole disappointing. The book starts with just oddly off-key language choices that felt sloppy rather than intentional, and several of the stories feel like Saunders (who seems to be affiliated with the author) sort of halfway warmed over. Much of the subject matter here is important, but the author's treatment of it just didn't do the matter justice. I may have just missed something here, as the book seems to be beloved here on Goodreads and by respected authors alike.

Photo of Lotta
Lotta@themagicjedi
2 stars
Sep 5, 2021

2.5 stars First of all, I think I just don't like short story collections. I don't know why, but it's often such a mixed bag of good and bad stories, and I don't want to suffer through stories that I don't enjoy, so I'm probably not gonna read more of them, at least not soon. Still, this collection of short stories presents some interesting ideas, and comments mostly on race/racism in the US. The stories were often tough and even gory, fitting with the themes. I did have a real problem with some of them though. One story follows a young man whose girlfriend had an abortion recently. The fetuses show up - they are described explicitly - and ask for an explanation why his girlfriend got an abortion. The whole story felt very anti-abortion and it just didn't sit right with me. Then, the stories on consumerism felt very on the nose, describing humans kinda like zombies, who MUST buy things to live. The commentary this posed felt to me as a cheap way to say something clever about the topic. Again, I did like some other stories, such as "The Finkelstein 5" and "Zimmer Land," but not enough to warrant a higher rating.

Photo of Anyaconda
Anyaconda@kaffeeklatschandbooks
3 stars
Aug 29, 2021

I've been following Roxane Gay on Goodreads now for quite awhile and I'm never disappointed by any of her own books or books she recommends. I loved the Sci-Fi and fantasy aspects of the short stories and all of them are deeply thought-provoking. Please pick this up, even if it might be out of your usual comfort zone. You won't regret it! Thank you Quercus and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC.

Photo of Succowski
Succowski@succowski
4 stars
Oct 21, 2024
Photo of Lexie
Lexie @lexieneeley
3 stars
Jan 11, 2024
Photo of M M
M M@expandingbookshelves
4 stars
Aug 23, 2023
Photo of Hanna Cormier
Hanna Cormier@hannalexandra
3 stars
Jul 29, 2022
Photo of Jorge Amigo
Jorge Amigo@amigo
4 stars
Jul 5, 2024
Photo of Melissa Railey
Melissa Railey@melrailey
4 stars
Jan 18, 2024
Photo of Adrian Ray Amboy
Adrian Ray Amboy@theloafiesttime
4 stars
Jan 11, 2024
Photo of Sandra De La Cruz
Sandra De La Cruz@sandradlc
5 stars
Jan 10, 2024
Photo of Kyle Curry
Kyle Curry@kcurry24
5 stars
Nov 22, 2023
Photo of Gabriele
Gabriele@ganuc
4 stars
May 29, 2023
Photo of Andrew Louis
Andrew Louis@hyfen
4 stars
Feb 6, 2023
Photo of farah
farah@apharos
4 stars
Jan 25, 2023
Photo of Shan
Shan@rathna
4 stars
Jan 24, 2023
Photo of Jacob Mishook
Jacob Mishook@jmishook
5 stars
Oct 16, 2022
Photo of Satya Nelms
Satya Nelms@satyanelms
5 stars
Aug 23, 2022
Photo of Zahia Saeed
Zahia Saeed @zahiawrites
3 stars
Aug 15, 2022

Highlights

Photo of Lindsay
Lindsay@schnurln

Several hours into an advanced interrogation session, a single sentence had escaped Mistress Redding: "If I had words left in me, I would not be here."