Black Buck

Darren Vender (apt name for a salesman) is a happy-go-lucky supervisor at Starbucks. His crew likes and respects him. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of his products, the names of his customers and their preferences. He lives with his Mom in Bedford Stuyvesant in their co-op they share with an aged friend. He is at home in the neighborhood and satisfied with his life and love. Those around him, however, know that he has greater potential despite only a high school degree. One day, he meets a king maker at the coffee shop and is given a rare opportunity to achieve status, wealth, and a place in a high functioning team.

Like many corporate training sessions, they break Darren down in order to build him back up and initiate him into the team. His name is changed to the humiliation of Buck, short, they say for Starbucks. He is the only black person in the firm. Darren learns and masters sales techniques which are summarized in this book. The essential question of this well-written novel is how much humanity are we willing to sacrifice in order to attain success? An apt theme for our time.