Mr Good Guy turns out to be not all that he seems, and he isn’t the book’s sole unreliable narrator. Often, the story we start out reading turns out to be a feint, yet none of this tips over into tricksiness Later on, the protagonist of Infinite Happiness, an archetypal good guy, confesses to always having been “captivated” by men like his flatmate’s lover, a middle-aged charlatan whose talk of African queens and “cerebral vibisms” lets him sleep his way around Brooklyn. In the eerie, indelible opener, No More Than a Bubble, two young Columbia dudes profess a liking for curvy women “because that’s what black guys are supposed to like”, and in J’ouvert, 1996, a fatherless boy whose mother has botched his haircut yearns to be in a barbershop, surrounded by “those clever men, grooming each other’s masculinity”. In several stories, race and gender are shown to be largely performative.

The relationships that matter here – those that define Brinkley’s characters, as often as not by their absence – are predominantly paternal and fraternal. Indeed, it’s the question of what it takes to be a man – an American man of colour, specifically – that provides the book’s theme, and though women flit through its pages in various roles, they occupy another realm entirely. They aren’t all men, either for every fedora-doffing dandy and greying has-been there’s a lost boy or an adolescent whose desire feels a lot like fury. Precarious, haunted, wise too long after the event – all seem more apt descriptions as they share their magnetic tales of abandonment and flight, and of wild nights that demand to be followed to their dawn-streaked ends. We also have nonfiction books, biographies and memoirs, sci-fi reads and even some for dads who like thrillers that go bump in the night.T he “lucky” men in Jamel Brinkley’s mighty debut short story collection do not initially appear blessed. If he's the kind of guy who keeps up with the best new books, we have a few apt newcomers he'll love. Whatever kind of books the dad or grandpa in your life likes to read, there's something he'll love on this list. We can't think of a more appropriate gift than permission to crack open his favorite beverage, sit back in his favorite chair (you know, the one nobody else is allowed to sit in) and escape his fatherly duties into another world for a while.

How many golf balls, leather wallets, grilling gear and funny novelty mugs does one guy really need? When you need a present for the World's Best Dad that isn't cheesy, boring or generic, we have the perfect solution: Pick up one of these books to give him on Father's Day. It's no secret that it can be a little tough to find the perfect Father's Day gift for a lot of dads. 'Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links.' 20 Books for Father's Day Gifts Product Shot Image

Jamel brinkley a lucky man