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Buck by M.K. Asante
In this poignant memoir, author Asante chronicles his troubled youth in North Philadelphia and the school that transformed his life. Born in Zimbabwe to American parents, twelve-year-old Asante found his life upended by his brother's incarceration, his mother's mental illness and his father's absence. Back in America living in "Killadelphia's" slums, Asante turned to drugs and a life on the streets to cope with his problems. However, Asante's enrollment at an alternative school, which looked "like a gingerbread house" but had students that looked "like Columbine shooters," radically inspired him and saved his life.
Review from Publishers Weekly Starred, 06/24/2013
In his memoir, Asante, a Zimbabwe native and a Philly transplant, plays out the events of his childhood against the backdrop of the street-savvy rhythms of hip hop. In this soul-searching memoir, Asante describes himself as a “true African-American,” born in the motherland, and he recalls his family life in “Killadelphia” with his Afrocentric “Pops” and slightly off-kilter “Moms,” who winds up in a psychiatric facility, as well as his older brother Uzi, who goes to prison for the statutory rape of a white girl. Asante blends the old soul riffs of Amiri Baraka and Ishmael Reed with the helter-skelter stream-of-consciousness of New Journalism scribes Hunter Thompson, Terry Southern, and Tom Wolfe, tossing in a dash of Sister Soulja and Donald Goines, in his journey through the crime-ridden city streets. It’s the snippets of scenes—almost overheard chatter—and colorful descriptions that make this memoir memorable, as in his description of the funeral of Amir, the riff on the all-important “dead presidents” or money on the block, and his time at Crefeld alternative school. Asante’s noir chronicle is imaginative, powerful, and electric, written with passion and conviction.
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