Man Gone Down: A Novel

"It’s a story of a black man in New York City, who is married to a white woman. They have three kids together. It takes place over the course of four days while he is in utter crisis trying to save his family. The love story is really the love of one man trying to keep his family together, when every single force that could be working against him is working against him. He has four days to earn over $12,000 to pay for his children’s tuition, find an apartment, and move his family home from where they have been ensconced for the summer—kind of in limbo with his wealthy mother-in-law, who has a very strong personality and is very interested in protecting her daughter and her grandchildren. This man doesn’t have a name in the book. He’s so hard and vulnerable and frantic. He’s desperately in love with his wife and his children. It’s just an incredibly high octane series of crazy situations with him trying to hustle and to work as much as he can and figure it out. This is all driven by love, which is why I wanted it on this list. It’s not in pursuit of love; it’s him trying to hold on to what he has. Yes, and it’s the great majority of the time that we spend with the people we love. It’s not the beginning, it’s all the rest of it. And I feel that does get neglected."