Blacktop Wasteland is a beautifully written story about the struggle of a black man trying to be a good family man, while navigating through the world of crime as a brilliantly talented wheelman to make ends meet. The story realistically handles racism in today’s world, with meaningful encounters throughout the book showing how Beauregard, AKA Bug, the protagonist, tries to teach his children the importance of being better than him and acquiring education to give them the choices he never had growing up. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. One of Beauregard’s sayings to his child is ‘when you’re a black man in America, you live with the weight of people’s low expectations on your back every goddamn day’. This is just one of the hard-hitting realities Mr. Cosby, the writer, conveys to readers in a manner that will stick with you long after you finish reading the book.
The story flows naturally and in a fast-paced manner. Bug struggles to keep his mechanic shop afloat, with a competition taking away Bug’s customers. The desperation to provide for his family causes Bug to take part in one final heist as a wheelman. Bug is a natural behind the wheel. Sharp and meticulous. The car becomes a part of Bug when he’s driving it. It becomes a symbiotic bond, which makes for exciting and praise-worthy car chases. The driving portions are written so skillfully, I was in awe of their excellence. I felt the sequences to be cinematic, comparable to the excellent sequences of the movie Drive. With the backdrop of the book involving criminals, this book has realistic action sequences that fit into the world of Blacktop Wasteland without any hesitation.
As a reader, you resonate with Beauregard’s conflicts as if you’re reading a memoir. Beauregard struggles with his dark past, and he struggles with the darkness inside him that makes him feel more alive behind the wheel driving away from the cops than being with his family. The book begs the question, if we can be more than our dark past, or are we configured to repeat the cycle of our ancestors. Every single character feels like a real-life personality. Every presence in the book holds weight. Which is why, the tragedies in the book hit me harder than I could have braced myself for.
This book could not come out at a better time. Reading through this gave me an insight into the harsh world of living as a black man in America, and with all the injustices going on with racial inequality, this book resonated with me in ways I could not have expected. I would strongly urge readers to get this book. You will not be disappointed. I can absolutely say this is one of the best reading experiences I have had. It is a book for everyone.
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