A review by fowg2024
How to Make Love to a Negro by Dany Laferrière

5.0

I laughed from beginning to end. Many may find the pages crass, boring or something else. For me, it was just an opportunity to get another black man's perspective on interracial dating. Given that this has been such a major part of my identity, I felt a near instant connection to the principle characters. Obviously, it's dated and it's (depending on who you talk to) misogynistic interactions with women may strike many as (to say the least) problematic. While some may find something like this forgivable (at least forgivable enough to get through it) others won't. I can sympathize. But I think that in many ways, the trivialization goes both ways. The desire to not give any of these women names may be matched by the otherness that many of the women view these men. Obviously no one is looking for a permanent mate, given the nature of many of these encounters. With that said, I cannot help feel that even if the author and his roommate were to fall in love with one of these ladies, that the reason why the encounter would not go beyond some athletic bedroom sessions is that black men are only viewed as just a means of completing a white woman's sexual education. Not to say that this doesn't happen the other way too, it just seems to play a part of a larger narrative on black men being a part of white people's education. The author acknowledges as much through the pages here. Couldn't help but break my neck with my nodding. I may be able to lob more criticism at a work like this were there additional works that explored interracial hookups/dating through a more sensitive and nuanced lens. Until those works arrive, this is what I have. And, while it's not perfect, it's a glorious start.