AUDIOBOOK : The White Boy Shuffle. by Paul Beatty - Part 4.
Channel: Audio Oasis
Date: 2023-04-11

Part 4.
The White Boy Shuffle is a satirical coming-of-age novel, written by poet Paul Beatty, which tells the story of Gunnar Kaufman, a self-described "Negro Demagogue" who is a poet, basketball star, and political agitator in the black community. The book is categorized as a "bildungsroman," and it falls under the "New Black Aesthetic" and the "Post Soul Aesthetic," genres coined by Trey Ellis and Mark Anthony Neal respectively. These aesthetics explore the concept of the "cultural mulatto," which refers to individuals who can successfully inhabit historically white spaces in society while maintaining their black cultural identity.

The novel begins with Gunnar introducing himself as the narrator and explaining that he is writing his memoirs, starting with stories about his ancestors told to him and his sisters by their mother during childhood. The story of Gunnar's life begins in Santa Monica, California, where he lives with his mother and sisters. After his mother moves the family to the predominantly black West Los Angeles Hillside neighborhood, Gunnar struggles to find acceptance in his new school but experiences a rise in popularity after he reveals a hidden talent for basketball and strikes up a friendship with a "thuggish" classmate. He also becomes well-known because of his poetry, some of which gets published in magazines.

Despite his increased popularity, Gunnar is still teased for his lack of skills on the dance floor and his awkwardness around women. During the 1992 LA Riots, Gunnar and his friends were caught stealing a safe from a department store by a group of policemen, including Gunnar's father, who beats him with a nightstick, landing him in the hospital. The following summer is detailed through emails Gunnar sends his friends and family from a camp for talented high school basketball players. When summer comes to an end, Gunnar makes a deal with his father - Gunnar and his friends won't be charged for the department store theft, and in exchange, Gunnar will attend an elite, mostly white high school in the Valley.

After graduating from high school, Gunnar attends Boston University, where he becomes involved with a number of student activist groups. Upon learning that his wife, Yoshiko, is pregnant, Gunnar joins a travel basketball team, which leads to a further increase in his celebrity. Upon his return to Boston, Gunnar gives a speech at a rally during which he appears to advocate for the "freedom through suicide" movement, and he begins to receive "death poems" from Americans who felt inspired by his words to kill themselves. This includes his friend, Scoby, who flings himself off the roof of the BU Law School. When asked when he plans to kill himself, Gunnar replies, "when I'm good and goddamn ready."

After realizing that there is an outstanding warrant for his arrest by the LAPD, Gunnar and Yoshiko go into hiding. Gunnar attempts suicide by walking into the ocean but changes his mind. Gunnar and Yoshiko notice that they are being followed by a helicopter searchlight, which continues to hover above them even as Yoshiko gives birth to their daughter, Naomi. After the birth, the helicopter drops a box of cigars attached to a parachute with a note in Gunnar's father's handwriting expressing congratulations and the hope that Naomi will grow up with "respect for authority." Gunnar spends the rest of the novel in hiding, giving poetry readings and cementing his status as a sort of cult leader by pulling stunts.
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