A Particular Kind of Black Man

By: Tope Folarin

Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi

**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).

Critic reviews

"Narrator Prentice Onayemi's soft tones and introspective style highlight the inner turmoil and confusion felt by Tunde Akinola, a first-generation Nigerian–American boy who is trying to make sense of his fractured world. Throughout his childhood, Tunde struggles with loneliness, family instability, and establishing a sense of self, just as his immigrant father struggles to find work that suits his skills and respects his ethnicity. Onayemi's delivery captures Tunde's changing perspective as the boy matures from a 6-year-old who is sometimes afraid of his schizophrenic mother, to an adolescent who is trying to get used to a new mother and stepbrothers, and to a 17-year-old college freshman who is worried about his own mental health. Onayemi successfully employs various accents to distinguish the varied English-language skills of Tunde's family."

Home

The constant moving, the restless father, and the desire to fit is the metaphor for Tunde’s inner landscape. His journey is tumultuous and fragmented in both contexts as he tries to find an identity and a place to fit.

The story seems fragmented at times, I was compelled to see if this young man would find his footing. The act of writing was central to developing the character. It was a narrative sometimes and a self-reflection other times. I sometimes struggled to see the connection until the last chapter. Then I understood and wept. Home.

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

Well written and perfect narration

I’ve never felt such an intense emotional reaction to a book, before. A beautiful story with wonderful narration. Highly recommend.

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

Love, Love, Love this book

As an African American woman I forget often of the experiences of immigrants that come to this country. This book opens my eyes once again to the prejudices, racism and unfair treatment of a Nigerian family. Even though it was fiction the struggles of his father and mental breakdown of his mother seemed so real to me. Each character in the story had he/her own uniqueness and well-developed personality through the eyes of the author and main character. I was pulled into the story through every aspect of my soul. This book touched me deeply. The emotional feelings still resonates with me. I read the author bio and background and was so impressed. In every bit of fiction there is a little bit of truth!