For the first time in its nearly ten-year publishing history, MacAdam/Cage plans to bring a previously published hardcover title, Brian Copeland’s Not a Genuine Black Man, out as a trade paperback. Based on Copeland’s wildly successful one-man play, Not a Genuine Black Man is a thoughtful take on what it means to be an outsider --- and a moving portrayal of one man’s resilience and courage in reclaiming his identity.

In the summer of 1972, when Brian Copeland was eight, his family moved from Oakland to San Leandro, California, hoping for a better life. At the time, San Leandro was 99.99% white and widely considered to be one of the most racist enclaves in the nation. This reputation was confirmed almost immediately: Brian got his first look at the inside of a cop car, forced into the backseat after walking to the park with a baseball bat in hand. Days later, Brian was turned away by several barbers who said “we don’t cut that kind of hair.” And that Christmas, while shopping at a local department store, Brian was accused of stealing and forced to empty his pockets in front of store security.

It was a time that Brian spent his adult years trying to forget, until one day an anonymous letter arrived that forced him to reevaluate his childhood: “As an African American, I am disgusted every time I hear your voice because YOU are not a genuine black man!”

A poignant, hilarious, and disarming memoir about growing up black in an all-white suburb, Not a Genuine Black Man is also a powerful contemplation on the meaning of race, and a thoughtful examination of how our surroundings make us who we are.