Synopses & Reviews
From the author of the “powerful, fable-like work”
Intimate Relations with Strangers (
Publishers Weekly) comes a dark comedy about a teenage boy who takes mind control to the next level and weaves a web of chaos to get revenge.
With a device that enables him to control the minds of other people, the teenage boy at the center of this novel has powers just short of godly, and he’s not afraid to use them. Especially after opening his bedroom door one day to discover his grandmother having drunken sex with a black man—in his own bed. Driven over the edge by his family’s actions, the teenager turns against his grandmother, his father, and his father’s assistant, programming them to do his bidding or leaving holes in their memory.
After taking revenge on his family, the teenager decides to pair together a couple named Felix and Cassiopeia, who must carry out their controller’s increasingly erratic schemes. In their travels, Felix comes upon a store selling an unapologetically racist and sexist book called The Total Emasculation of the White Man—which sets him off on a new and even stranger quest. Meanwhile, only one person is aware of the teenager’s role in the ongoing chaos…and he must act soon if the farce is ever to come to an end.
Blending elements of fantasy, time travel, family drama, and comedy, The Total Emasculation of the White Man will challenge your views of gender and race relations while entertaining you with a funny, provocative tale unlike anything you’ve read before.
Synopsis
From the author of the "powerful, fable-like work" (Publishers Weekly) Intimate Relations with Strangers comes a sci-fi mystery--and a very dark comedy--about several (mostly white) men who are systematically driven insane by a series of bizarre events.
One of the men wakes up in the woods one day with amnesia and is confronted by a dominatrix who tells him they are on a mission from God. She takes him to Atlanta, where he comes upon an unapologetically racist and sexist book called The Total Emasculation of the White Man--which sets him off on an even stranger quest. Another man, a college mathematics professor turned stay-at-home dad, finds himself losing his mind when his son's demonic teddy bear comes to life. Other men see even stranger horrors, but all these seemingly unconnected stories are part of a grand scheme that is either the work of a mischievous god or something even weirder.
Blending elements of fantasy, mystery, science fiction and comedy, The Total Emasculation of the White Man is a provocative exploration of gender and race relations in America today.
About the Author
David Valentine Bernard is the author of five novels—including the critically acclaimed Intimate Relations with Strangers. Originally from the Caribbean nation of Grenada, he moved to Brooklyn, New York, when he was nine years old. In 2010, he returned to the Caribbean (Jamaica) to complete a master’s degree in international development. Learn more at DVBernard.com.