Kirkusreviews

The Importance of Being Dangerous
David Dante Troutt
Amistad/HarperCollins
April / 9780060789299 / $24.95

David Dante Troutt’s first novel presents the complex tale of three disparate individuals— single mother Sidarra, defense lawyer Griff and comedian/computer programmer Yakoob—in search of a way to overcome their personal struggles while making a profit. Kirkus gave the book “good marks for its nifty premise, crisp dialogue and well-handled plot,” though it’s the trio of main characters who drive the story. Sidarra, Griff and Yakoob “felt robust to me,” says Troutt, “which meant they could carry the burdens of their lives in revealing ways, and they could live the story in ways that kept us interested in what they were trying to do. The novel is about many things, but it is also about [the characters’] coming of age once they have left the excuses and the regrets of their youth…[and] grief was big enough to contain, if not explain, each of their motivations.” Having incorporated political and romantic elements into themes of racial injustice in previous short stories and nonfiction, the author was faced with a new challenge in trying to infuse the story with more thrilling elements as the characters are drawn into a scheme to defraud individuals who have harmed the black community, a scheme that turns violent when Yakoob’s drug-dealing neighbor gets involved. “Finding the balance was extremely tricky,” says the author. “As I schemed or wrote, I was always conscious of my newness to thrillers, so I was sometimes overtechnical…I kept practicing until I felt pretty familiar with all three. Eventually, when each was mature and felt solid in its own right, I tried to integrate them effectively to achieve a kind of seamless balance.” That he did with aplomb.

http://www.kirkusreviews.com/kirkusreviews/images/pdf/Best_of_2007.pdf

Black Issues Book Review

The Importance of Being Dangerous
David Dante Troutt
Amistad/HarperCollins
April / 9780060789299 / $24.95

Troutt’s debut novel is set against the backdrop of a moneymaking scheme. Sidarra is a single mother who’s not crazy about her job with the board of education. She meets Griff, a defense attorney, and Yakoob, an aspiring comedian, at a meeting of the Central Harlem Investment Club. They are dissatisfied, however, with the venture, and contrive their own club and plan: “We gotta do what we do to do what we gotta do,” says Yakoob. Troutt’s sharp narrative and complex characters—mixed with a murder, and racially and socially charged motivation—makes this story suspenseful.