We Cast a Shadow

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A bold, provocative debut for fans of Get Out and Paul Beatty s The Sellout , about a father who will do anything to protect his son even if it means turning him white How far would you go to protect your child Our narrator faces an impossible decision Like any father, he just wants the best for his son Nigel, a biracial boy whose black birthmark is growing larger by the day In this near future society plagued by resurgent racism, segregation, and expanding private prisons, our narrator knows Nigel might not survive Having watched the world take away his own father, he is determined to stop history from repeating itself.There is one potential solution a new experimental medical procedure that promises to save lives by turning people white But in order to afford Nigel s whiteness operation, our narrator must make partner as one of the few Black associates at his law firm, jumping through a series of increasingly surreal hoops from diversity committees to plantation tours to equality activist groups in an urgent quest to protect his son.This electrifying, suspenseful novel is at once a razor sharp satire of surviving racism in America and a profoundly moving family story Writing in the tradition of Ralph Ellison and Franz Kafka, Maurice Carlos Ruffin fearlessly shines a light on the violence we inherit, and on the desperate things we do for the ones we love. Free Read [ We Cast a Shadow ] Author [ Maurice Carlos Ruffin ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Maurice Carlos Ruffin s debut novel, We Cast A Shadow, is an incisive and necessary work of brilliant satire Set in the post post racial South, We Cast a Shadow tells the story of a man, one of the few black men at his law firm, desperate to pay for his biracial son to undergo demelanization, desperate to fix what he sees as his son s fatal flaw It is this desperation that drives this novel, that haunts this novel and in this desperation, we see just how pernicious racism is, how irrevocably Maurice Carlos Ruffin s debut novel, We Cast A Shadow, is an incisive and necessary work of brilliant satire Set in the post post racial South, We Cast a Shadow tells the story of a man, one of the few black men at his law firm, desperate to pay for his biracial son to undergo demelanization, desperate to fix what he sees as his son s fatal flaw It is this desperation that drives this novel, that haunts this novel and in this desperation, we see just how pernic...3.75 thought provoking stars for this racially charged work of satirical fiction Set in a satirical future south, We Cast a Shadow tells the racially fueled dystopian story of a black man desperate to pay for his biracial son s demelanization process In this future world race is still an issue of injustice The only way to truly level the playing field is for black Americans to undergo an expensive procedure which turns them white on the cellular level Does that sound far fetched to you Th 3.75 thought provoking stars for this racially charged work of satirical fiction Set in a satirical future south, We Cast a Shadow tells the racially fueled dystopian story of a black man desperate to pay for his biracial son s demelanization process In this future world race is still an issue of injustice The only way to truly level the playing field is for black Americans to undergo an expensive procedure which turns them white on the cellular level Does that sound far fetched to you The entire book takes everything past and current related to race and turns it on its head, elevating it to a whole new level Ruffin s writing was at times devastatingly painful and uncomfortable to read but it was also undeniably thought provoking and clever The main characters are a father and his bi racial son Nigel Though a successful lawyer, the narrator who chose to remain nameless is plagued with the fear ...Some works tackle the subject of racism in a way that allows white people to feel really good about themselves in the end Others don t leave space for white readers to reasonably separate themselves from the racism depicted in their pages, or to come away with I m one of the good guys feelings, because in real life there are no white people exceptions to systemic racism This novel is the second kind of achievement It may sell fewer books because of it, but it s a braver book because of it.I Some works tackle the subject of racism in a way that allows white people to feel really good about themselves in the end Others don t leave space for white readers to reasonably separate themselves from the racism depicted in their pages, or to come away with I m one of the good guys feelings, because in real life there are no white people exceptions to systemic racism This novel is the second kind of achievement It may sell fewer books because of it, but it s a braver book because of it.I don t know if it s fair to compare anything at all to Invisible Man but I can t think of another novel that includes the same mix of high satire and terrifying truth as does t...3 starsWe Cast a Shadow is a dystopian satire if there is such a genre Intellectually, I thought it was brilliant But I must admit that I didn t love reading it It was a question of genre and style rather than content Set at some point in the future in the US, life for African Americans has become an exaggeration of what it is today Levels of surveillance and incarceration are very high There are fenced ghettos Etc The narrator identifies himself as one of the 10% lucky enough to av 3 starsWe Cast a Shadow is a dystopian satire if there is such a genre Intellectually, I thought it was brilliant But I must admit that I didn t love reading it It was a question of genre and style rather than content Set at some point in the future in the US, life for African Americans has become an exaggeration of what it is today Levels of surveillance and incarceration are very high There are fenced ghettos Etc The narrator identifies himself as one of the 10% lucky enough to avoid the fate of most African American men He is lawyer in a large firm But he is obsessed with the precariousness of his situation and especially with his 13 year old son s vulnerability As far as he s concerned, the solution is a treatment increasing in...A black father loves his son very much, which is why he does everything to turn his kid white so he won t be subjected to racist oppression this is pretty much the disturbing premise of this painful satire Maurice Carlos Ruffin finds haunting words and images to illustrate the alienation and suffering that racism causes, how people are forced to choose between their pride and their safety, and how dignity and compassion get crushed in an inhumane, white supremacist society What makes this te A black father loves his son very much, which is why he does everything to turn his kid white so he won t be subjected to racist oppression this is pretty much the disturbing premise of this painful satire Maurice Carlos Ruffin finds haunting words and images to illustrate the alienation and suffering that racism causes, how people are forced to choose between their pride and their safety, and how dignity and compassion get crushed in an inhumane, white supremacist society What makes this text stand out is the dark sarcasm it employs to describe the cynic dynamics of structural racism, thus highlighting its absurdity and the maze like logic of a hate that connects melanin levels to the value of a human being.In ...As I began to write this review, I asked myself how do I write this review in such a way that I don t offend white people And then the irony of that question hit me like a punch in the gut.In We Cast a Shadow, our main character and most black Americans have spent their lives not only trying not to offend white people, but trying to amuse them, cater to them, and, yes, be them You see in our near future tale, those with money enough can have a series of procedures to become white Why do they As I began to write this review, I asked myself how do I write this review in such a way that I don t offend white people And then the irony of that question hit me like a punch in the gut.In We Cast a Shadow, our main character and most black Americans have spent their lives not only trying not to offend white people, but trying to amuse them, cater to them, and, yes, be them You see in our near future tale, those with money enough can have a series of procedures to become white Why do they want to be white Because in our author s world, racism and segregation are very much back as part of the American Landscape And to be honest, simply watching the Barbeque Beckys and torch bearing White Nationalists of today, the author s world isn t quite so implausible.For a black person to succeed in this America, they need to act the minstrel, be p...Release date January 29th We Cast a Shadow is a debut novel by Maurice Carlos Ruffin that takes place in the near future Still plagued by racial discrimination blacks now have the option to achieve ultimate assimilation The story follows an unnamed African American male narrator who seems to have risen above his natal station in life Working as a lawyer in a prestigious law firm he is willing to do anything to placate his superiors, even masquerade as typical stereotypes to advance his career Release date January 29th We Cast a Shadow is a debut novel by Maurice Carlos Ruffin that takes place in the near future Still plagued by racial discrimination blacks now have the option to achieve ultimate assimilation The story follows an unnamed African American male narrator who seems to have risen above his natal station in life Working as a lawyer in a prestigious law firm he is willing to do anything to placate his superiors, even masquerade as typical stereotypes to advance his career His motivation is to raise funds for his son s demelaninization process A painful process likened to chemotherapy, demelaninization not only strips the bearer of their color but is supposed to reconfigure their genes so th...Review Edit 3 19 19 Maybe this was the point given the narrator s use of drugs, but I felt like I needed to be on drugs while reading this It s like that scene in the Leonardo DiCaprio Claire Danes version of Romeo Juliet, where Romeo takes ecstasy and everything is spinning That s how the prose in this was for me It was just all over the place and it couldn t decide what it wanted to be Such a missed opportunity I didn t get the brilliance and I really wanted to.This is a story ab Review Edit 3 19 19 Maybe this was the point given the narrator s use of drugs, but I felt like I needed to be on drugs while reading this It s like that scene in the Leonardo DiCaprio Claire Danes version of Romeo Juliet, where Romeo takes ecstasy and everything is spinning That s how the prose in this was for me It was just all over the place and it couldn t decide what it wanted to be Such a missed opportunity I didn t get the brilliance and I really wanted to.This is a story about a father and son The father a black man wants to prevent his son who is biracial from falling victim to this near future world where racism has been dealt with by either having surgery to become white or living in fenced in neighborhoods, being incarcerated for the smallest infraction and all the way up to neighborhood patrols to detect black people by body temperature heart rate If the heart rate is too high, they could be up to trouble and need to be questioned Essentially, racism is so outwardly present an...A Necessary Read A brilliantly unsettling tale set in the not so distance future southern state, a Black father seeks to ensure that his biracial son lives his life to his fullest potential, which means not to be identified as a Black man.A well thought out plot skillfully executed as every action and character shines on the reality that society fully endorses oppression of Blacks through containment, violence, and poverty.I was compulsively turning the pages as I felt the this near future cree A Necessary Read A brilliantly unsettling tale set in the not so distance future southern state, a Black father seeks to ensure that his biracial son lives his life to his fullest potential, which means not to be identified as a Black man.A well thought out plot skillfully executed as every action an...in the new york times Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah does a great job of summarizing this book, so i refer you to his review for a sense of what this novel is about for me, reading this novel felt like having a hard meeting with despair look, this is satirical, on a level, so some of it may be funny, but there is nothing funny in the world ruffin presents somewhere in the south the american racism we all know and hate has scope creeped into laws and regulations that restrict black life to an extent in the new york times Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah does a great job of summarizing this book, so i refer you to his review for a sense of what this novel is about for me, reading this novel felt like having a hard meeting with despair look, this is satirical, on a level, so some of it may be funny, but there is nothing funny in the world ruffin presents somewhere in the south the american racism we all know and hate has scope creeped into laws and regulations that restrict black life to an extent we would immediately consider unacceptable, but that ruffin presents, it seems to me, as a logical extension of the anti black abominations that have been occurring in the US forever, and the racist abominations that are occurring for other groups under our curr...I confess I laughed at racially insensitive jokes I don t know how Ruffin does it He takes satire to a whole new level The exaggeration of our southern culture s insidious racial prejudice barely misses being over the top, staying well within the range of hilarious Some of the dialogue is jaw dropping, like when Jo Jo s girlfriend holds out her hand to the unnamed protagonist s half black child and says, Come with me my little chimpanzee How does Ruffin get away with that The protagonist I confess I laughed at racially insensitive jokes I don t know how Ruffin does it He takes satire to a whole new level The exaggeration of our southern culture s insidious racial prejudice barely misses being over the top, staying well within the range of hilarious Some of the dialogue is jaw dropping, like when Jo Jo s girlfriend holds out her hand to the unnamed protagonist s half black child and says, Come with me my little chimpanzee How does Ruffin get away with that The protagonist, whom I ll call The Lawyer, marries red headed activist Penny They have a son, Nigel But The Lawyer believes Nigel is born with a defec...I thought it would be a very long time before I could say of a new book, If you enjoyed how uncomfortable THE SELLOUT made you feel, have I got a book for you But here we are, and WE CAST A SHADOW is that book.This is a book that is going to pull at every single thing you know about race, especially about whiteness and blackness, and no matter who you are, it is going to make you squirm Sometimes it s the sharp social satire, the novel is set in a near future world where every little revelat I thought it would be a very long time before I could say of a new book, If you enjoyed how uncomfortable THE SELLOUT made you feel, have I got a book for you But here we are, and WE CAST A SHADOW is that book.This is a book that is going to pull at every single thing you know about race, especially about whiteness and blackness, and no matter who you are, it is going to make you squirm Sometimes it s the sharp social satire, the novel is set in a near future world where every little revelation of what it s like feels like you ve been hit in the head with a brick But a lot of what makes this novel so hard is that it s not just about satire, it s about self loathing And that cuts against any humor, that this is apainful novel than a funny one.The is a novel tightly plotted with sharp prose, but its structure and form is surprisingly loose It leaves the reader always a little off kilter, never quite sure...Spoiler free, as much as possible Maurice Ruffin performs writer magic in We Cast a Shadow As the book opens, the reader is settled comfortably into a clever and biting satirical world where race plays a sharpened role in the butcher s shop of office politics of an old line law firm The time could be now, and we don t get the sense that if it s not now that it s too far off in the future The cultural referents and the social political critiques come fast and furious, as you would expect in s Spoiler free, as much as possible Maurice Ruffin performs writer magic in We Cast a Shadow As the book opens, the reader is settled comfortably into a clever and biting satirical world where race plays a sharpened role in the butcher s shop of office politics of an old line law firm The time could be now, and we don t get the sense that if it s not now that it s too far off in the future The cultural referents and the social political critiques come fast and furious, as you would expect in satire Think Confederacy of Dunces, but the dunces are smarter and the scenery is updated The magic is that the cleverness and bitingness of the...This is the latest novel to explain and deal with the issue of racism in America employing fantasy, magic realism, dystopian concepts, call it what you will From Underground Railway, to White Tears, to Underground Airlines, to Sing Unburied Sing, among others, authors have eschewed reality because the subject matter is too painful to deal with and offer alternative worlds in which to address the subject Mostly, as here, they are satirical, thusly carrying an undercurrent of rage, quite appropr This is the latest novel to explain and deal with the issue of racism in America employing fantasy, magic realism, dystopian concepts, call it what you will From Underground Railway, to White Tears, to Underground Airlines, to Sing Unburied Sing, among others, authors have eschewed reality because the subject matter is too painful to deal with and offer alternative worlds in which to address the subject Mostly, as here, they are ...I like the cover M

We Cast a Shadow
  • 09 March 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 336 pages
  • 0525509062
  • Maurice Carlos Ruffin
  • We Cast a Shadow