Cake [Paperback]

D (Author), Kenji Jasper (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2008

“There’s a new player stepping into the street-lit spotlight, and he’s one to watch. . . . Urban libraries have to get Got.”—Library Journal, on D’s debut novel Got (starred review)

It’s less than six months after the events of D’s first novel, Got, and our nameless narrator has vanished off the Brooklyn grid, only to end up in Atlanta. Yet trouble is shadowing him, and he is forced to make a life-or-death decision.

Writing since the age of 8, D has never held a legitimate job in his life. His words, however, have appeared in VIBE and other urban publications. An Atlanta native, he currently lives in an ungentrified neighborhood near you.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

D tells it like it is in this brutal sequel to Got, deploying a second-person point of view to roughly riff on the life of a desperate man trying to stay alive and get control of his life. The nameless narrator is still haunted by the first woman he killed. In Atlanta, the ex-Brooklynite enrolls in college; hooks up with Jennifer, a student and smalltime drug dealer; hangs with cousin Duronté and wants to be normal, even though you know in your heart that you'll never be normal again. D unflinchingly depicts the narrator's longing to control all the variables, where you can corner them and make them talk. He sends his cousin away after a power struggle in Atlanta and returns to Brooklyn for a showdown with the men who have him on the run. The narrator finds a surprising if unwelcome closure and faces some ugly truths in D's gritty street noir. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Writing since the age of 8, D has never held a legitimate job in his life. His words, however, have appeared in VIBE and other urban publications. An Atlanta native, he currently lives in an ungentrified neighborhood near you. Kenji Jasper is the author of three novels, including Dark and Snow, one work of nonfiction, The House on Childress Street, and coeditor of Beats, Rhymes and Life, a collection of critical writings on hip hop culture. He has contributed articles and essays to National Public Radio, the Village Voice, VIBE, the Charlotte Observer, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Essence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 139 pages
• Publisher: The Armory (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933354542
• ISBN-13: 978-1933354545
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,163,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Like a Jungle Sometimes, September 4, 2008

By 

Dera R Williams (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cake (Paperback)

Readers found the nameless narrator in Got relocating to Atlanta, leaving the destruction and devastation in New York behind. In the sequel, Cake by D, "He" is settling in, staying with a cousin, Duronte and has registered at a local college. It is his plan to lay low, move into a new home that is being renovated and complete his education; just have a normal life. It should be a piece of cake, right? He had not counted on Duronte having his own drug enterprise and certainly not being drawn into it, but he is by default, and again, when the stakes are raised and the new players seem to have ulterior motives, He finds himself running for his life again; you can run but you cannot hide.

What resonates through this story is no matter how removed we may think we are from the life of the streets and all the drama it brings, we are constantly reminded of just how fragile our existence is and how the decisions we or our children make, and the people that we associate with reflect the proverbial six degrees of separation. Life is not always distributed fairly and circumstances, sometimes beyond our or anyone elsefs control many children are pulled into street life and it is survival of the fittest.

The author, D, was introduced to Akashic Books under a new imprint created by Kenji Jasper. It was revealed in a press release for Cake that D and Jasper are one and the same. Cake, as Got did, has plenty of fast-paced action, hard-edged characters, and a storyline that pulls one in. This is signature Kenji Jasper as he makes you believe the characters. Again, the second person point-of-view is a brilliant literary device that sets the author apart from the rest of the writers of this genre. A small book with a mighty punch, readers will devour Cake in one sitting.

Dera R. Williams
APOOO BookClub