First published 2009
The narrator wakes up in a six-year-old's bedroom, broke and alone on the eve of his thirty-fifth birthday. His white wife has left him. His three children need school tuition. He has four days to find money for their education and secure an apartment where they can live together again. The clock ticks as he moves between inner city Boston, where he grew up, and present-day New York City, where his life has fallen apart. His past reveals abuse, abandonment, and alcoholism. His present shows a man fighting against a system that seems designed for his failure. America promised integration and opportunity, but delivered neither reliably. He feels trapped by circumstances beyond his control, yet driven by the need to save his family. The four-day deadline forces him to confront both his personal demons and the larger forces that have shaped his life. This unnamed black father must find a way to break free from a pattern that feels inevitable.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, african-american, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Boston, New York City
Period: 21st Century
431 pages · Paperback · Atlantic Books
Content warnings: abuse, addiction, alcohol-abuse