Mateo

Askaripour

NYT Bestselling Author

National Book Award 5 Under 35 Honoree

Travels from: Brooklyn, NY

“Askaripour closes the deal on the first page of this mesmerizing novel, executing a high wire act full of verve and dark, comic energy.” — Colson Whitehead, author of The Nickel Boys

New York Times bestselling author Mateo Askaripour wants people to feel seen. His first novel, Black Buck, takes on racism in corporate America with humor and wit. Askaripour was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly’s “10 rising stars to make waves,” and Black Buck was a Read With Jenna Today Show book club pick. Most recently, he was named as a recipient of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” prize. This Great Hemisphere is his second novel, and he lives in Brooklyn.

Black Buck

Mariner Books |

January 5, 2021

Literary Fiction

For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street—a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems.

There’s nothing like a Black salesman on a mission.

An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.

After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.

Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America’s workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.

Bestseller, BIPOC Authors, Black Voices, Fiction, Male Author, Racial Issues

The Art of Reinvention

In this talk, Mateo Askaripour tracks his beginnings as a writer, the challenges he faced––both external and internal––and how he went from a startup sales guy to a New York Times bestselling author, showing that we all possess second and third acts.

Doing the Difficult

In this talk, Mateo Askaripour describes his writerly life after publishing a New York Times bestseller to international acclaim, focusing on why, with his second novel, he decided to take a leap of faith, instead of playing it safe, proving that sometimes what’s most rewarding is also what requires the most courage.

From No-name to New York Times Best Seller: How I Got in, And Why I'm Not Leaving (workshop for adults and university students)

In this two-day workshop, broken into three hours each, Mateo Askaripour details his creative journey from the beginning, giving attendees the tools they need to succeed as writers. Within two days, they will walk away with tips on how to get into the mindset to write, concrete ways to pitch essays, a thorough understanding of where to query agents and how to find them, anecdotes on overcoming failure in an industry that wasn’t designed for us, to write the story you need to tell, and so much more, like what it means to be a writer in the public eye, how to get out of a story’s way, and how some books get into Hollywood.

No Agent? No problem! (also applicable to university writing students)

In this talk, Mateo Askaripour goes into the process of finding the right literary agent, through shedding light on how he, someone with no connections to speak of, broke into the publishing industry, eventually receiving multiple offers of representation, and then publishing a New York Times best seller. An emphasis will be placed on the business of book publishing.

Telling YOUR story! (for adults and young audiences, can also be a workshop for students)

In this talk and workshop, compatible with both children and adults, Mateo Askaripour discusses why it was so important to get his own story out, detailing the universal power of storytelling, and then guides you through an exercise in which you write a bit of your own story, and, if comfortable, share with others.

An Evening with Mateo Askaripour

Black Buck: Spend a fun, engaging, and incredibly informative evening with Mateo Askaripour as he discusses his debut New York Times bestseller, Black Buck

This Great Hemisphere: Spend a fun, engaging, and incredibly informative evening with Mateo Askaripour as he discusses his sophomore novel, This Great Hemisphere, a confident departure from his debut novel.

Selling Your Way to the Top: How a career in sales set me up for success as an author

In this talk, Mateo Askaripour details his history as a rising star in the world of New York City sales, discussing hard-won lessons, and how all of that culminated in his journey as a writer and eventual bestseller.

Creating Your Way to Freedom (can also be a workshop for students)

In this talk, Mateo Askaripour discusses the importance of creativity, as well as how to tap into it, in order to live a life of creativity. He details his own creative journey, leaving the audience with actionable advice to incorporate ASAP.

What Does it Mean to be a Writer? (for young audiences)

In this talk, Mateo Askaripour discusses the job of a writer, how he became one, what it was like being in the students’ grade, and how they can use writing to get ahead in life.

The Right Book at the Right Time

In this talk, geared toward parents, librarians, and youth advocates, Mateo Askaripour discusses his reading life, the impact a few key advocates had on his own trajectory, and how he seeks to engage with younger audiences today, especially through his mission to make writers cool again.

“A hilarious, gleaming satire as radiant as its author. Askaripour has announced himself as a major talent of the school of Ralph Ellison, Paul Beatty, Fran Ross, and Ishmael Reed. Full of quick pacing, frenetic energy, absurd—yet spot on—twists and turns, and some of the funniest similes I’ve ever read, this novel is both balm and bomb.” — Nafissa Thompson-Spires, author of Heads of the Colored People

“An irresistible comic novel about the tenacity of racism in corporate America . . . [Black Buck] is alternately sly and sweet, a work of cultural criticism that laments and celebrates the power of money.” — Ron Charles, Washington Post

“Darkly comic . . . The message at the heart of this novel [is] very American, that the power is in the pitch . . . Black Buck is not unlike The Great Gatsby, in its own way.” — NPR, Weekend Edition

“This winning novel — or is it a self-help book? — opens with a striking proposition: ‘MLK, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Frederick Douglass were all salesmen’ . . . Teetering between biting satire and complete earnestness (interspersed throughout are callouts with real sales advice), Askaripour’s novel charts the unlikely metamorphosis of Darren Vender . . . [whose] quick wit provides cathartic delight.” — New York Times Book Review

“Mateo Askaripour’s voice is so fresh. The writing is so intimate. At moments, it’s satirical and funny and then at moments, it’s heartbreaking . . . The details are so intimate, spot on and beautiful. I found myself underlining constantly.” — Jenna Bush Hager, Today Show

“A combination of character study, searing indictment of all the problematics of white corporate culture, and some good old-fashioned enjoyable sarcasm.” — Entertainment Weekly, “The Best Books to Keep You Warm This January”

“Mateo Askaripour begins his debut, which follows Brooklyn-dwelling Darren as he’s plucked from his Starbucks manager job by a start-up CEO and crashed into a sales job as the only Black member of the company, with an author’s note that the book might be used as a reference by aspiring Black salesmen. It’s a satirical construct that informs this razor-sharp send-up of ladder-climbing office culture, and all the systemic and individual racism it perpetuates.” — Vanity Fair, “The Books and Totes That Will Get You Through This Winter”

“Askaripour wields a sharp satirical blade to deliver social commentary . . . He may have written the first satire that doubles as self-help.” — Los Angeles Times

“A must- read . . . Buck’s journey is one you should invest in for 2021 without question.” — BET, “Is Mateo Askaripour’s Debut Novel the Blackest Book of 2021?”

“A biting and brilliant novel, Black Buck is masterclass in self-reflection and meaningful satire.” — Shondaland, “The Best Five Books for January”

“Proceeds at breakneck speed . . . Black Buck weaves in commentary about gentrification, class, race, and the American dream in between its punchy jokes.” — O, the Oprah Magazine, “33 of the Best Beach Reads to Help You Escape”

“Rhapsodic and incisive, Black Buck is a journey into a post-racial dystopia born of tech-fueled greed and racial ignorance. In other words: It’s a doozy.” — Wired, “Picks for the 10 Books You Have to Read This Winter”

Mateo’s Writing Link

Mateo’s Photography Link

Mateo’s Interviews Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Instant New York Times Bestseller
A Ready with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick
Long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize
Long-listed for the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize
An Indie Next Pick
National Book Award 5 Under 35 Honoree
Finalist for The New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award
Apple’s Best of January
Amazon’s Spotlight Best Pick of the Month
One of Entertainment Weekly’s “10 rising stars poised to make waves”