Starred review from February 12, 2024
New Yorker staff writer Cunningham debuts with a sophisticated bildungsroman that draws on his work for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. His narrator, David, is a Black man in his early 20s, adrift in Chicago and searching for role models, having neglected his early academic promise after unexpectedly becoming a father and subsequently flunking out of college. Beverly, a leading Black businesswoman whose middle-schooler son David tutors in English and math, connects him with the campaign of an Obama-like politician known only as “the Senator.” David keenly longs for something to believe in, but despite his brushes on the campaign trail with Cornel West and other leading Black figures, his work mainly consists of selling tickets to fund-raising dinners and arranging staged meetings between the Senator and voters. The political plot is secondary—readers know the campaign will, like Obama’s, follow a victorious arc—freeing Cunningham to shine in David’s recollections of his upbringing in a Pentecostal church run by a charismatic pastor who bears some resemblance to the Senator. More than a chronicle of idealism and disillusionment, this is an extended exploration of the power and limits of believing in something bigger than oneself. Cunningham’s remarkable first novel matches the scale of its namesake.
May 31, 2024
David is a college dropout who finds himself swept up in the presidential campaign of an eloquent Black senator from Illinois. Suddenly, David is scraping by with the other lowly campaign staffers while simultaneously rubbing elbows with the wealthy donors they court. The dichotomy forces him to reconsider everything he knows, from faith to fatherhood, and weigh it against this new world of power and politics. Amid friendships, flirtations, and failures, David presses onward in support of the senator and his promise of a new age for the United States. Cunningham, theater critic at the New Yorker, makes a powerful debut with this poignant novel. Though the presidential candidate is unnamed, his quest to become the first Black president and allusions to his elegant wife and young daughters leave little doubt that he is based on Barack Obama. Narrator Aaron Goodson gives an engaging performance of this thought-provoking story of hope. His no-frills presentation of the first-person narrative lets Cunningham's witty and reflective writing shine. VERDICT This audio will appeal to listeners seeking a moving novel about disillusionment and destiny set against the backdrop of a political campaign. Recommended for fans of Jason Mott and Paul Beatty.--Lauren Hackert
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