Got

by D.

"There's a new player stepping into the street-lit spotlight, and he's one to watch . . . Urban libraries have to get Got." --Library Journal, Starred Review

There's a young man living in the infamous Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. He is an orphaned college student trying to get through his sophomore year at age twenty-three, years behind the traditional undergraduates. His two best friends, Will and Chief, are an ex-drug dealer and a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193335416X
• ISBN13: 9781933354163
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
• Length: 171 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

When I Would Do Good, Evil is Always Present

In the gritty, fast-paced novella, Got, D, a new writer to Akashic Books, deftly weaves a rare second person narrative of a nameless protagonist who cannot seem to catch a break. "He" witnesses his father's death and his mother demise by drugs, stays in various foster homes, and is finally rescued as an adolescent by a couple who give him a middle-class sense of family. But after his first year of college, he comes home to find them being carried out in body bags, and he again is an orphan, left to survive on his own. He has a cushy job making drops for Tony Star; all he has to do is pick up and deliver and he gets a thousand dollars a week, enough to pay tuition and indulge in a beautiful sexy piece. Only this time something goes wrong, the money is gone, and Tony is threatening bodily harm, demanding his due. He has been got. Big time. He should have known better. Could he have been set up? He returns to the old NewYork neighborhood and enlists the help of his homeboys, Chief and Will. It does not take long for things to spiral out of control, leaving him wondering just what is up. Who is out to get him? These 171 pages, a well-written tale, packs a lot of grit with a tightly woven plot. The second person point-of-view, rarely used in fiction works well; not every writer can pull it off, but D does it seamlessly without compromising the storyline. The gunplay and chase scenes against the New York City landscape, as well as the pacing, adds just enough drama to get one caught up in the reality of the characters. Fast-paced and filled with surprises, Got by D is recommended for those who love urban literature. Dera R. Williams APOOO BookClub

A New Standard in Street Lit

Packed with a rare combination of drama and class, Got has all the elements of an urban classic in the vein of Carlito's Way and Bodega Dreams. Let the poseurs beware: In his first time out, D doesn't just raise the bar on street lit, he broke the damn thing!