Friday Black
- 216
- Pages
- about 4 h
- Reading time
- PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
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Our view
“Friday Black” is a fierce debut collection that turns near-future and dystopian settings into pointed satire about race and consumerism. At their best the stories are blunt and visceral, blending horror with science fiction. Some readers find the violence too graphic to keep going, and others note that weaker pieces sit alongside the strongest. It suits readers who want short fiction with real social bite.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Friday Black is the 2018 debut book by author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. The collection of short stories explores themes surrounding black identity as it relates to a range of contemporary social issues. The stories are set in a variety of twisted near-future and dystopian settings. The book received an overall positive reception, including the naming of Adjei-Brenyah as one of the "5 Under 35 Authors" for 2018 by the National Book Foundation.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.0 across 90 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 38% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.8 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.7 | 6 | 7% |
| Hardcover | 8.0 | 84 | 93% |
Frequently asked
How long is Friday Black?
It has 216 pages — shorter than 91% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Science fiction — and a score of 7.8, the closest to this book.
