*Edit: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/10/10/17959504/2018-national-book-award-finalists



Its been getting phenomenal reviews and its available online and in your local book stores. Its done well enough pre-release that the publisher has already ordered a 2nd run.

I'm so happy and proud for him. He's been working on his craft as long as Ive known him, and maybe working harder to get published. Shit is real for POC authors.


Anyhow here is the synopsis:
n the nine expansive, searching stories of A Lucky Man, fathers and sons attempt to salvage relationships with friends and family members and confront mistakes made in the past. An imaginative young boy from the Bronx goes swimming with his group from day camp at a backyard pool in the suburbs, and faces the effects of power and privilege in ways he can barely grasp. A teen intent on proving himself a man through the all-night revel of J’ouvert can’t help but look out for his impressionable younger brother. A pair of college boys on the prowl follow two girls home from a party and have to own the uncomfortable truth of their desires. And at a capoeira conference, two brothers grapple with how to tell the story of their family, caught in the dance of their painful, fractured history.

Jamel Brinkley’s stories, in a debut that announces the arrival of a significant new voice, reflect the tenderness and vulnerability of black men and boys whose hopes sometimes betray them, especially in a world shaped by race, gender, and class—where luck may be the greatest fiction of all.



Here are a couple or reviews

http://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-brinkley-lucky-man-20180427-htmlstory.html

https://mastersreview.com/book-review-lucky-man-jamel-brinkley/

A full list:
https://www.jamelbrinkley.com/press/

So we could've been first on the cop. Lol

Still good news brother!

..keep going.


*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

most, because then they are not sitting on that second printing, its out the door.

Barnes and Noble will keep a book like this on the shelf for a while, but them registering sales helps the publisher, which is a smaller press which in turn helps Boogs, because advances are generally broken up into pieces- one check when you sign, another when you publish and the final when you sell above a certain threshold.

Graywolf is a pretty big small press and lots of tehir titles are at ant decent bookstores. This is one of their hottest current releases I think, so you should find something.


I think one of teh issues with B&N and amazon is they buy and sell the books at a lower rate. At the local book store you would pay more, but because of that put more money in his pocket.

but most of the returns to the publisher are going to be from the Barnes and Noble. The local bookstores are ordering the same quantities and are more likely to keep books longer, thus fewer returns.

Called it amazing. Said ol' dude is "the future." Good to hear, too. He works at a pretty popular indie bookstore in town (Chicago). I'll have to grab a copy, read it and write a talker to make sure my shop keeps it in stock.

that is an achievement in itself.

Congrats, I'll be placing an order.

i'm hyped to read it.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

And thanks, everyone, for the love.

im trying not to be biased cause I know him and have been in some of the situations with him or heard him tell the stories. But the detail and imagery from reading so far is fire to go along with the actual stories that capture the characters so well in a short amount of space

nice!

I'm going to B&N next weekend!

Im 3 in.

gonna have to check this out

not really Brooklyn since its Greenpoint lol...

https://www.wordbookstores.com/event/word-presents-jamel-brinkley-lucky-man-conversation-tomi-obaro

Looking forward to reading it.

Instant coppage

Can’t wait for more of you to read it so we can discuss our favorite stories.

Every story was good to me... if I had to choose a favorite, I think I like the story about the brothers— everything the mouth eats(?)

I loved the storytelling and how Ny the stories felt. I loved how finishing a story felt complete even though not everything was always resolved. I felt like I wanted to know more, but what I read was also satisfying enough. When I finished the stories I still felt as if I was so immersed in the characters that I had read a whole book about them. The depth of storytelling in the few pages was great, and the way he writes his characters makes you really sympathize with them.. even when they aren’t perfect. In some ways as the character narrates and thinks... almost feels like you are the character.

I wonder if it feels tht way for women readers too.



Really hope this gets the pub it deserves.

I just had one sent to my fam in prison.

https://qz.com/quartzy/1390049/national-book-award-nominees-2018/

Just in case y’all needed another reason to buy or read it

I missed this post the first time around so I'm glad you upped it. I'm not a huge reader, but I wanna check this out. Short stories are great.

Shall cop.

..keep going.

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

Thanks!

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I went to the front desk lady to see if i could order it, thinking she might not have heard of it before. Nope, she was stoked. She was like 'since it was nominated for a National Book Award we've probably got it in stock'. Sure enough they had it on hand.

I'm most looking forward to reading the “Everything the Mouth Eats”. Salve JBoog.

https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/10/10/17959504/2018-national-book-award-finalists

I just finished a truly shitty book yesterday, so I'm super ready to read 'A Lucky Man'.

This is big!

First piece of fiction I've enjoyed in a while.

I wonder how people who have never lived or been to NY interact with it.

as far as the NY part, I've been a handful of times, but not a New Yorker by any stretch. Reading it, I still feel like I'm there. Now if i was from NY, I think it would probably be even that much more real.

Like the capoeira story.. I've played for 10 years. That whole event was like super real to me in a way it wouldn't be if I didn't play. But I've heard a bunch of people say it's their favorite story even though they're not part of that world. So similar to NY, it's not necessary to be from that world, but it just gets even realer and makes the story even better if you know.

yea I think this is my fave too. Mostly because I know him and have met his brother. I know its a very personal story, but the dialogue and feelings in that story, were so powerful.Reminded me of my own relationship with my sister.

and I think the one with the roomate and his girl are my favorite.


The Jouvert story takes place in my neighborhood so I like that.
The Wolf and Rhonda story.
The Private school story.

All of them are beautifully written though


>
>Like the capoeira story.. I've played for 10 years. That
>whole event was like super real to me in a way it wouldn't be
>if I didn't play. But I've heard a bunch of people say it's
>their favorite story even though they're not part of that
>world. So similar to NY, it's not necessary to be from that
>world, but it just gets even realer and makes the story even
>better if you know.

www.Tupreme.com

definitely adding this to my purchase / reading list.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

I'm still in shock about all this...

***prays to QuestGawd, Overlord of the Anthill***

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/30/t-magazine/black-authors.html?action=click&module=Features&pgtype=Homepage&fbclid=IwAR3n_34mpmH2wdQyaV2MiKBf3sNJnemxvjXoy2kVIReKZsZ97PrJJI-ly38