Black American Psycho (2016)

By Ernest Baker

140pp, Fiction

Notes

2020-06-22

This is an Amazon print on demand book by Ernest Baker. I’m normally quite good at writing down where I got a recommendation when I add something to my to-read pile but my notes reveal nothing here and so I went in cold. Research after the fact reveals that Baker is/was? a music journalist during the early-mid 2010s the kind of person whose writing I would have been aware of 10 years earlier, before I had kids and recused myself from keeping up with pop music etc. (it’s telling that Baker is really into Drake, the appeal of Drake is pretty much totally lost on me and I feel like this is a kind of generational schism between me and “young” people). Also, as his one line author biography states, “Ernest Baker is black”.

This book appears to be a fictionalised account of Ernest Baker’s life from 2012-2016 – it’s not subtle about this: Drake becomes Rake, Pitchfork becomes Tractor etc. Key features of author stand-in Authur Simon’s modus operandi include serially cheating on his girlfriend being a massive coke head and being massive knob (mainly because of the cocaine and emotional strain of an abusive relationship). The book revolves around Simon’s partner’s allegations of assault. In the book it’s made clear that whilst Simon is flawed in many ways he’s not a violent person and that the allegation is unfounded – the result though is the complete razing of his career and a year in limbo as the American court system grinds slowly towards a trial (a real thing that happened to the author). The context here is of course the history of racists and racist institutions using white women’s honour as an excuse to persecute and punish black men, this is in the news at the moment you may have noticed.

Anyway, I’m conflicted, the apparently cursory nature of the fictionalisation complicates things. As someone coming new to this whole thing across a big temporal, spatial and cultural distance – I’m aware that I’m very much getting one point of view. In spite of Arthur Simon’s (and maybe Baker’s?) behaviour, my sympathy as a reader lies squarely with him. On the other hand I’m not going to relinquish the position that it’s important to believe the testimony of victims of domestic violence – coming forward in such situations can be daunting and risky and requires real bravery when even the best outcomes from such testimony can incur more personal damage for the victim. Racism and the patriarchy, two shit flavours that taste shit together!