Friday Black

I’ve thought for a while now that short stories just aren’t for me, but Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s debut has made me reconsider. At just under 200 pages, Friday Black is an intense and provocative read. In many of these bizarre and inventive stories, Adjei-Brenyah imagines a near-future dystopia in which many of the social issues we face today, such as racism, violence, and consumerism, have escalated to grim conclusions. At times the writing is magically realistic and hyperbolic, but it is continuously sharp and clever. This collection’s dark and speculative nature is similar to that found in the contemporary television series Black Mirror, as well as Jordan Peele’s Academy Award-winning film Get Out. A worthy and necessary read.