Dave Smith, a proud 48 year-old African-American man in an interracial marriage, grew up poor in North Carolina, and he’s poor today. But there was a time he almost had it all....
Five years earlier, seeking his share of the American Dream, Dave tried his hand at entrepreneurship and sank every penny he and his wife owned into Dave’s Bar, a former barbershop on Atlanta’s historic Auburn Avenue. The business flourished, and he believed he’d finally achieved his Dream. He bought his wife, Linda, expensive presents, and sent her on luxurious vacations while he stayed behind to watch over the bar. There was little choice there, since the bars Auburn Avenue location attracted an eclectic but motley crew of customers who always required a close eye, as well as the occasional bartender who either stole or shared the bars alcoholic bounty with their family and friends.
Life is marvelous, Dave thought. And life was terrific . . . until a swanky new competitor opened across the street. Within a few short months, Dave’s Bar became a statistic.
Now, six months later, unemployed and with the big Five-O fast creeping up on him, Dave reads the want ads in the local newspaper and fends off his wife’s frequent worried questions. Within four months, he quits two jobs he feels are beneath him. Money worries stress his marriage to the point of open conflict. As the bills mount, so does the tension.
Linda, a Southern Belle and an assertive buxom blonde, is as supportive as she’s able to be, but is fast losing patience. The manager of a staffing agency, she’s the only one bringing home the bacon right now. Fed up with chiding Dave for not trying harder to find steady work, she offers him an entry-level job with her company. He doesn’t want a job his wife found for him, plus he doesn’t like or trust her boss, Charlie, a rich playboy Linda dated before they were married.
Deeply conflicted over what life even means anymore, his marriage strained to breaking, Dave leaves to visit his family in North Carolina, hoping to find answers to the unanswerable.
The Delivery Man is a coming-to-middle age story populated by eccentric, fascinating characters and a window into whether a man can reclaim the good life he once knew before its too late.
