Luster: A Novel | May 2021 Bookclub Selection

MAHOGANYBOOKS | VERY SMART BROTHAS BOOK CLUB

If you have ever been to a MahoganyBooks | Very Smart Brothas Bookclub discussion you know we love our debates. It doesn’t matter what book we’re discussing or the seriousness of the topic, the act of gathering together as a community of book lovers for a good debate is what makes our time together special. This month, Panama Jackson, our co-host has selected a book, Luster by Raven Leilani, that’s sure to get the opinions flowing. We invite you all to join us for this months reading selection and for the discussion to follow.

Let the debate (?) begin!

About the Book

No one wants what no one wants. 

And how do we even know what we want? How do we know we’re ready to take it?  

Edie is stumbling her way through her twenties  sharing a subpar apartment in Bushwick, clocking in and out of her admin job, making a series of inappropriate sexual choices. She is also haltingly, fitfully giving heat and air to the art that simmers inside her. And then she meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey, including an autopsist wife who has agreed to an open marriage with rules

As if navigating the constantly shifting landscapes of contemporary sexual manners and racial politics weren’t hard enough, Edie finds herself unemployed and invited into Eric’s home–though not by Eric. She becomes a hesitant ally to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie may be the only Black woman young Akila knows. 

Irresistibly unruly and strikingly beautiful, razor-sharp and slyly comic, sexually charged and utterly absorbing, Raven Leilani’s Luster is a portrait of a young woman trying to make sense of her life–her hunger, her anger–in a tumultuous era. It is also a haunting, aching description of how hard it is to believe in your own talent, and the unexpected influences that bring us into ourselves along the way.

Discussion Day Info

All participants must register via Zoom for the book club discussion. The discussion will take place on June 4th at 6PM EST.

About MahoganyBooks 242 Articles
MahoganyBooks is an online bookstore that believes in social entrepreneurship. We take a leadership role in the African American community promoting reading, writing, and cultural awareness as tools to improve communities as well as enrich the lives of motivated individuals.

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