Latest news with #WhiteBoy
The Guardian
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sunstruck by William Rayfet Hunter review – a Saltburn-style story of identity
The unnamed narrator of William Rayfet Hunter's debut novel, a mixed-race aspiring musician from Manchester, is plunged into an unfamiliar milieu when his posh university friend, Lily, invites him to spend a summer at her parents' chateau in the French countryside. There's an undercurrent of unease – at one point he is mistaken for staff – but the family are welcoming. Lily's bisexual brother, Felix, a handsome actor and enfant terrible who has just emerged from a stint in the Priory, is especially friendly. A relationship develops, which brings perks for the narrator: Felix's father gives him a cushy job at his property firm, and his mother promises to pull strings and get him an audition with the Royal Academy. It all seems too good to last – and so it proves. Sunstruck is a story about identity and belonging. The protagonist had hung out with goth kids at school; his black best friend, Jasmine, teasingly nicknames him 'WhiteBoy' because he is so out of touch with black pop culture. But when the action moves to London in the second half of the novel, and particularly after a black friend of Jasmine's is badly beaten up by police at the Notting Hill carnival, a racial consciousness gradually awakens within him. He suspects that he'll never be truly accepted in Felix's world, and their relationship is troublingly imbalanced. Yet he can't quite tear himself away: 'The intoxicating sense of belonging, of moving through a space I didn't know existed … this is something I cannot give up.' Psychological damage from a traumatic childhood makes the narrator particularly susceptible to Felix's charms. We learn, through a series of poignant flashbacks, that his mother suffered from severe mental health problems, and they have been estranged for many years. However, we get little sense of what makes him tick in the here and now; he's something of a passenger in his own story, defined more by disconnectedness than any personality of his own. His outstanding traits are physical attractiveness and an agreeable manner, but these are not much good to the reader. The first-person voice is underwhelming company on the page, at one point musing tritely on the melancholia of birthdays. Lily's siblings call her Magpie, 'Because she collects beautiful things' – perhaps he is simply a himbo? Luckily, there's plenty of plot; the novel's brisk pacing, together with its shrewd blend of emotional sincerity, brooding intrigue and political overtones, make for a lively beach read. The prose reads like a cross between an airport romance and a screenplay for a Saltburn-style television drama. Heightened emotions manifest, time and again, in intense sensations in the narrator's chest. The characters in Lily and Felix's milieu feel like stock types, alternating between blithe, jolly-hockey-sticks esprit and sociopathic coldness, and the descriptions of upper-class opulence have a similarly generic quality: a great many people and things 'glitter' and 'glow'; clothes, drinks and lovers are 'expensive' or 'expensive-looking'. At times, the narrator himself seems to have half an eye on screen adaptation: 'The shaft of light slides from my face to his' while the lovers cuddle; after an embrace, 'our reflections blur inside the window'. Some moments are downright schlocky: 'an instant, a flash of something like fury in Felix's eyes … it flares and bursts like the filament in a camera bulb.' Early on in Sunstruck, the narrator happens across the headless torso of an alabaster statue of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Felix's mother had made it, and Felix had decapitated it in a fit of rage – 'A warning not to get in my son's way,' she quips. Here is the novel in microcosm: the on-the-nose metaphor; the sinister, hiding-in-plain-sight menace; and our dozy, hapless hero, too mesmerised to heed the signs. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Sunstruck by William Rayfet Hunter is published by Merky (£16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Quarrel between friends ends in deadly shooting outside a Miami restaurant: cops
An argument between two friends early Saturday morning ended with one of the men fatally shooting the other in the parking lot of a popular restaurant in Miami's Overtown neighborhood, police say. Witnesses told police that both men, who had been friends for years, had been drinking together earlier, but had a heated argument outside the popular bar, restaurant and lounge, located at 920 NW 2nd Avenue, around 3 a.m. One of the witnesses told police he was hanging out with some women next to his apartment building when he saw the victim, whose nickname is 'White Boy,' standing outside. Asked what he was doing, 'White Boy' replied that he was waiting for 'Red,' the nickname of the alleged shooter, 40-year-old Carlton Ziv Davis, police said. He then walked to the Red Rooster parking lot, where Davis was, and the two men began to argue, according to Davis' arrest report. The argument turned into a fight, and the witness told police that the victim tried to punch Davis, but missed, according to the report. The victim again approached Davis, then Davis pulled out a gun and shot him in the abdomen, police said. According to the report, the witness said Davis said to his friend, 'It didn't have to end this way.' The witness applied pressure to the victim's wound, while another man held his hand, according to the report. Davis was at the scene when officers arrived and was arrested. Officers saw a Glock 19 9 mm handgun on the ground. Miami Fire Rescue Paramedics took the victim, who has not been named as of Monday, to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died from the gunshot, according to the arrest report. Police said in their report that Davis appeared intoxicated when they arrived, and the victim was not armed when he was shot. As of Monday night, Davis was being held without bond at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on an a second-degree murder charge. Information about his legal representation was not immediately available.
Miami Herald
22-04-2025
- Miami Herald
Quarrel between friends ends in deadly shooting outside a Miami restaurant: cops
An argument between two friends early Saturday morning ended with one of the men fatally shooting the other in the parking lot of a popular restaurant in Miami's Overtown neighborhood, police say. Witnesses told police that both men, who had been friends for years, had been drinking together earlier, but had a heated argument outside the popular bar, restaurant and lounge, located at 920 NW 2nd Avenue, around 3 a.m. One of the witnesses told police he was hanging out with some women next to his apartment building when he saw the victim, whose nickname is 'White Boy,' standing outside. Asked what he was doing, 'White Boy' replied that he was waiting for 'Red,' the nickname of the alleged shooter, 40-year-old Carlton Ziv Davis, police said. He then walked to the Red Rooster parking lot, where Davis was, and the two men began to argue, according to Davis' arrest report. The argument turned into a fight, and the witness told police that the victim tried to punch Davis, but missed, according to the report. The victim again approached Davis, then Davis pulled out a gun and shot him in the abdomen, police said. According to the report, the witness said Davis said to his friend, 'It didn't have to end this way.' The witness applied pressure to the victim's wound, while another man held his hand, according to the report. Davis was at the scene when officers arrived and was arrested. Officers saw a Glock 19 9 mm handgun on the ground. Miami Fire Rescue Paramedics took the victim, who has not been named as of Monday, to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died from the gunshot, according to the arrest report. Police said in their report that Davis appeared intoxicated when they arrived, and the victim was not armed when he was shot. As of Monday night, Davis was being held without bond at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on an a second-degree murder charge. Information about his legal representation was not immediately available.
The Independent
23-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Justin Bieber in good spirits as he jams with rising star Jensen McRae
Justin Bieber shared a vulnerable confession with his followers this weekend, while posting a clip of himself during a fun session with musicians including rising talent Jensen McRae. The Canadian pop star, 31, appeared to be in good spirits as he was seen jamming on a keyboard while a friend played the drums, with more instruments strewn around a room with a large pool table in the middle. Another artist messed around on synths, while friends in the garden also wandered over to watch. Singer-songwriter and poet Jensen McRae, known for her singles 'White Boy' and 'Wolves', as well as her new track 'Praying For Your Downfall', could be seen enjoying the session and later posted a selfie with Bieber to her Instagram page. The American artist has been named as one to watch by a number of music publications and is currently preparing for a major tour this summer, which will include stops in London, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol. Bieber's footage appears to have been filmed at the singer's $26m Beverley Hills estate, which boasts seven bedrooms, a tennis court, koi pond and outdoor dining areas, plus 2.5 acres of land. Bieber and his wife, Hailey Bieber, were reported to have purchased the home – located in one of the most sought-after gated communities in the area – back in 2021. Bieber captioned the post: 'I think I hate myself sometimes when I feel myself start to become inauthentic. 'Then I remember we're all being made to think we're not enough but I still hate when I change myself to please people.' A number of his followers praised him both for the clip and for his honesty, with one fan writing: 'Thank you for staying true to yourself, for being so honest and vulnerable because we know It's not always easy to be open. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial 'It's exhausting to be in a world that makes us question if we're enough, and even more exhausting to fight against that pressure every day. But you're aware of it, and that awareness is powerful. You're not just going along with it — you're pushing back. And that says a lot about the kind of person you are.' The 'Peaches' singer has been frank about his negative associations with fame, having been thrown under the global spotlight when he was just 16 years old. Last week, he shared a candid post about feeling as though he 'wasn't allowed' to express hate, which in turn made him feel like he has been 'drowning feeling unsafe to acknowledge it'. 'I think we can only let hate go by first acknowledging it's there,' he wrote. 'How couldn't we feel hate from all of the hurt we have experienced?' In another reflective post shared earlier this month, he confessed that he frequently feels like a 'fraud', as he opened up about his tussle with imposter syndrome. 'People told me my whole life, 'Wow Justin u deserve that,'' he wrote, 'and I personally have always felt unworthy. Like I was a fraud. 'Like when people told me I deserve something, it made me feel sneaky like, damn if they only knew my thoughts… how judgemental I am, how selfish I really am, they wouldn't be saying this.' He continued: 'I say all this to say, if you feel sneaky welcome to the club. I definitely feel unequipped and unqualified most days.' amid concern over the singer's disheveled appearance in New York last month. TMZ reported that the sources said Bieber had in fact been working in the studio all night 'which is why he looked a bit worse for wear'.
