In February 2007, Brooklyn’s Akashic Books and acclaimed author Kenji Jasper launched a new Street Lit imprint — The Armory — introducing audiences to an unknown young author named D, with D’s debut novel, GOT.
GOT earned a starred review from Library Journal, and Backlist called it “the street fiction we’ve all been waiting for.” In keeping with the mysterious background of D, GOT is told from the perspective of a nameless narrator, and this summer, D is back with a stand-alone sequel to GOT, called CAKE. Though the narrator of CAKE remains nameless, CAKE’s author, D, has a new name…Kenji Jasper.
Jasper will officially take off the mask at his book launch party, July 8 in Brooklyn, 6-10 p.m., at Frank White Cafe, 936 Atlantic Avenue.
The story of Jasper and D provides a unique perspective from which to explore the social and literary phenomena of Street Lit. It’s less than six months after the events of GOT and our still nameless narrator has vanished off the Brooklyn grid only to end up in Atlanta, where he now lives with his ambitious but somewhat dimwitted cousin Durante.
Flush with cash from the unfortunate events that forced him out of Brooklyn, he has enrolled in an Atlanta college, transferred his credits, and is doing his best to live a normal life.
But when our hero meets Jennifer, a dark-skinned beauty putting herself through school via small-time dealing, he inadvertently sets off a series of events that once again sandwich him between the worlds of light and dark. He can’t get away completely clean, because this time he’ll have to choose between being the man he wants to be and the one who can keep him alive. It’s another seven days in the life of a man who just can’t seem to get a break.
For more, call Akashic Books at 718-643-9193 or visit them on the web at www.akashicbooks.com.
