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    A Lucky Man: Stories
    A Lucky Man: Stories
    A Lucky Man: Stories
    Audiobook9 hours

    A Lucky Man: Stories

    Written by Jamel Brinkley

    Narrated by Korey Jackson

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION In 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 22, 2019
    ISBN9781980033516
    A Lucky Man: Stories
    Author

    Jamel Brinkley

    Jamel Brinkley is the author of A Lucky Man, which won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and was a finalist for the National Book Award, among others. The title story from Witness was chosen by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as a 2021 O. Henry Prize winner and the story ‘Comfort’ was longlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story Award. He was raised in the Bronx and Brooklyn and teaches at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

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    Reviews for A Lucky Man

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    • 5/5
      It’s hard to find words that adequately describe the breadth of the writing here a s it seems so effortlessly accomplished. These stories deserve every award they will surely receive. Fantastic.
    • 4/5
      This collection of nine short stories is set in Brooklyn and the South Bronx, where the author grew up, and each is centered around two African American men, who are family members or friends whose relationships are strained and occasionally at the breaking point, which affects themselves and those around them. My favorite stories were "J'ouvert, 1996", in which a troubled teenage boy struggles to accept his mother's new boyfriend while having to look after his younger brother as he seeks independence and his own identity; 'Everything the Mouth Eats", a story about two estranged brothers who decide to travel togther to attend a capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial arts conference, in an attempt to restore their formerly close relationship; "A Family", in which a man recently released from prison attempts reconciliation with the wife of his deceased best friend and his teenage son; and "A Lucky Man", which is centered on a school employee whose alluring wife has recently left him alone and adrift, as a younger man teases and torments him over his loss. I liked the other stories but wasn't as enamored by them, but this is a very promising debut collection and I look forward to reading Jamel Brinkley's future works.
    • 4/5
      I rarely read short story anthologies. A Lucky Man is a series of stories about fathers and sons. The stories felt very contemporary and complex. Although I found some of the subject matter hard to read due to the characters situations, the author's approach was very unique and kept me turning the page.
    • 4/5
      This is a noteworthy collection; not only are short stories a hard sell for established authors, but for a new author like Brinkley, published by a smaller publisher outside of the Big Five to get any attention at all is unusual. Yet this book shows up on prize lists as diverse as the National Book Award and The Tournament of Books. The attention the is book is getting is well-deserved, the stories collected here are varied, but all speak to the experience of growing up as a person of color in New York. Like most collections, there were a few weaker offerings sandwiched between the strongest stories at the front and back of the book, but all were worth reading. Brinkley's skill is to bring the inner life of a child to life and to make the reader feel every uncertainty. This is a collection that brings to life the people living in the ungentrified areas of New York's boroughs. It's a good collection and I'll be sure to read whatever Brinkley writes next.
    • 4/5
      This book of nine short stories was on the short list for the National Book Award. I have read a couple of the other nominees and this book stands up quite well compared to those. The nine stories have African American male characters as the prime protagonist in each story. Brinkley varies the age and circumstance of the characters in each story but they mainly center around Brooklyn and the Bronx. The overall theme is the difficulty of men finding their way in the world. Trying to compare what they see and feel for themselves versus the idea of masculine stereotypes that they have to deal with The quality of the writing is excellent and for me it helped add to my knowledge of how it is for black men in America. Each story is in the 20-25 page range which gives the author the ability to delve into the characters. He touches on all the major themes of family, race, youth, old age, etc. Most important is the relationship between sons and fathers and dealing with a family unit that has absentee dads and moms, step parents, step brothers and sisters. A very impressive collection and a worthwhile read.
    • 5/5
      This is a super strong debut. Brinkley digs into the inner lives of urban men and boys of color in wonderfully nuanced, intelligent stories that deal with some big themes—masculinity, racism, class, anger, disappointment, fathers and sons, aging, the male gaze—without ever getting heavy handed. His characters are complex, often thorny, and always striving toward honesty with themselves—if not always with one another. These deep dives into hearts and minds are warm and emotionally astute, the city settings vivid, and the writing beautiful. Each one of the nine is a standout, but damn I loved “J’ouvert, 1996."
    • 5/5
      A wonderful award winning collection of short stories focusing primarily on African American characters. These stories are meaty with a great amount of character development across the board. This does not mean that the plots are lacking. They are unique and vary widely. Each story is roughly twenty five pages which gives Mr. Brinkley a large enough pallet to never make the reader feel short changed. I generally don't like short story collections but this one is great.
    • 4/5
      A Lucky Man has earned a place on the National Book Award (2018) Short List and it is clear why it was chosen.Brinkley's short story compilation includes nine short stories which are filled with memorable characters in extraordinary circumstances. All seem to explore relationships in all their many configurations; man to woman, man to man, boys to boys, men/boys to father and mothers and also their relationship to the world around them. The stories take you to a place unknown to many a reader but from the comfort of your easy chair you can travel to uncomfortable situations and humans which garner your empathy.
    • 4/5
      There's a reason this collection is a National Book Award finalist for fiction.Each of these stories focuses on one man (or boy) and one particular relationship he has--with his mother, brother, father, daughter, girlfriend, friend. Over the course of the story he is trying to understand that relationship, and understand how to make it work or what he has done wrong (if anything), or what he needs to do or can do to make it right. My favorite was the last story, Clifton's Place, which stood out for me because the relationship is not about relatives, it is about unusual friends. It's also a great story to end the book on, because it is kind and hopeful.