Get your tissues ready. Don’t Cry For Me by Daniel Black is told exclusively through emotional letters and will aggressively pull at your heart. For as long as he can remember, Jacob has longed to become a father and raise a son the way a man is to be raised. As Jacob grew up, he looked up to his hardworking grandfather and how he provided for the family. What he lacked was any signs of affection or an emotional connection which then translated into how he expressed his love for Isaac. As Isaac grows older and strays further away from the vision Jacob had for him, Jacob feels as if it’s a personal attack, and he must ‘fix’ him by any means necessary. Though Isaac’s perspective is never shared, you can empathize how Isaac felt growing up and the effects of trauma passed down to him through Jacob’s eyes.
If you enjoyed Razorblade Tears by S.A Cosby, be sure to check out Don’t Cry For Me by Daniel Black. Don’t Cry For Me confronts generational trauma, racism, homophobia, masculinity and fatherhood and shares a story that will stay with readers long after finishing.
Daniel Black is an associate professor at his alma mater, Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse University. Black has been nominated for the Townsend Literary Prize, the Ernest J. Gaines Award, the Ferro-Grumley Literary Prize, the Lambda Literary Award and the Georgia Author of the Year Prize. In addition, he was awarded the Writer’s Award from the Middle-Atlantic Writers Association.
