Overview

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2024 'Truly extraordinary books are rare, and this is one of them' - Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha James by Percival Everett is a profound and ferociously funny reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. From the author of The Trees, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and Erasure, adapted into the Oscar-winning film American Fiction. The Mississippi River, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a new owner in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter forever, he flees to nearby Jackson's Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father who recently returned to town. So begins a dangerous and transcendent journey along the Mississippi River, towards the elusive promise of the free states and beyond. As James and Huck navigate the treacherous waters, each bend in the river holds the promise of both salvation and demise. And together, the unlikely pair embark on the most life-changing odyssey of them all . . . 'Who should read this book? Every single person in the country' - Ann Patchett, bestselling author of Tom Lake 'James has the potential to become a classic . . . Thrilling, bold and profound' - The Sunday Times 'Funny, wise, gracious; this may be Everett's best book yet' - Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry 'Magnificent . . . Everett's most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful ' - The New York Times

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9781035031269

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Reviews

The unsung Jonathan Swift of modern American fiction. * The Times * One of the most inimitable and distinct voices in contemporary American fiction. * The Washington Post *

Percival Everett is a giant of American letters, and James is a canon-shatteringly great book. Unforgiving and compassionate, beautiful and brutal, a tragedy and a farce, this brilliant novel rewrites literary history to let us hear the voices it has long suppressed -- Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of <i>Trust</i> James is funny and horrifying, brilliant and riveting. In telling the story of Jim instead of Huckleberry Finn, Percival Everett delivers a powerful, necessary corrective to both literature and history. I found myself cheering both the writer and his hero. Who should read this book? Every single person in the country -- Ann Patchett, bestselling author of <i>Tom Lake</i> Pure brilliance. Funny, wise, gracious; this may be Everett's best book yet -- Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of <i>Lessons in Chemistry</i> A scorchingly funny, action-packed reworking of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- <i>Sunday Times</i>, 'The 40 best books of 2024' [A] rambunctious, perspective-altering book, keeping the adventurous spirit of [The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn] but full of contemporary resonances -- <i>Guardian</i> 'Fiction to look out for in 2024' Magnificent . . . [James] is Everett’s most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful * The New York Times * An audacious re-writing . . . delivers a story bristling with atmosphere, sadness and sly wit -- <i>Financial Times</i> 'What to read in 2024' [Percival Everett] has quietly been producing excellent novels for four decades, with 2021's The Trees shortlisted for the Booker Prize, but [James] might be his most anticipated yet -- <i>BBC Culture</i>, '45 of 2024's most anticipated books' American literature’s philosopher king — and its sharpest satirist * The New Yorker * [Percival Everett] is very funny; he's got a comic vision of the world, tethered to an interest in serious stuff, particularly race in America . . . The comedy lowers the reader's defenses & lets other things in -- John Self * BBC Radio 4 Open Book * Percival Everett is an audacious, beguiling American master, whose wild trajectory has reached astonishing highs in the past decade. Now comes James, which enlists and devours not only Mark Twain’s novel but aspects of Melville, Ellison, and even Kafka to make an irrevocable invention into the canon. Everett is simply playing this game at a higher level, and it is the most serious game imaginable -- Jonathan Lethem, author of <i>Motherless Brooklyn</i> This is a brilliant, accessible, and very necessary companion to Huckleberry Finn -- Dave Eggers, bestselling author of <i>The Circle</i> If [James] . . . doesn't win [the Booker Prize] in 2024, I'll be amazed -- Amanda Craig, author of <i>The Three Graces</i> 2024 . . . might be the year of Percival Everett . . . [James is a] systematic and forensic and laugh-out-loud-funny deconstruction of America and race * Scotsman * If you liked Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver, read James, by Percival Everett * Washington Post * [An] ingenious retelling of The Adverntures of Huckleberry Finn . . . Everett has outdone himself -- <i>Publishers Weekly</i> (Starred Review) The audacious and prolific Everett dives into the very heart of Twain's epochal odyssey -- <i>Kirkus </i> (Starred Review) An absolutely essential read -- <i>Booklist</i> (Starred Review)

James has the potential to become a classic . . . thrilling, bold and profound * The Sunday Times * James is funny and horrifying, brilliant and riveting . . . Who should read this book? Every single person in the country -- Ann Patchett, bestselling author of <i>Tom Lake</i> Gripping, painful, funny, horrifying . . . a consummate performance to the last * The Observer * This is the work of an American master at the peak of his powers * Financial Times *

Author Information

Percival Everett is the author of over thirty books, including So Much Blue, Telephone, Dr. No and The Trees, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and won the 2022 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize. He has received the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the PEN Center USA Award for Fiction, has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. His novel Erasure has been adapted into the Oscar-winning film American Fiction. He lives in Los Angeles.

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