Next up for my movie/book club.
This book, IMO, is perfect! 10/10. Definitely going to make an effort to read more of Everett‘s writing and I‘m going to try to watch American Fiction tonight. *It‘s not “new” just a newly purchased library copy 😉
This book, IMO, is perfect! 10/10. Definitely going to make an effort to read more of Everett‘s writing and I‘m going to try to watch American Fiction tonight. *It‘s not “new” just a newly purchased library copy 😉
Funny and devastating. I loved this satirical look at the intersection between race and literary culture in the USA. Audiobook superbly performed by Sean Crisden.
It was the season of the absent or lazy editor. So many of the novels were needlessly fat.
I talk about books on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/-3_uqx3eiF4
#PoetryMonth #TransGirlApril #PeopleApril #PictureThis2024 #Indigenous #Queer #WomenInTranslation #audiobooks #kidlit
Um, I'm sorry, this novel is genius. I was cackling throughout and cannot wait to read more from Everett.
The middle section (Stagg's novel) was kinda miserable to get through but Everett writing and including it in the text of Erasure is just so funny. Absolutely brilliant send up of the publishing industry and racial discourseTM.
I‘m struggling with the print on this book. It‘s very light AND small. Yet the page is quite large. It‘s really annoying me. And the ebook has a 10 week hold through the library 😩
Thelonius “Monk” Ellison is a black American writing intricate and philosophical novels, and not fitting the themes for a black person to write about. For fun and as a parody he writes the ultimate black novel under a pseudonym and everyone loves it. What is a man to do when everyone wants to meet him?
At the same time his mother‘s memory is fading fast. His brother has his own issues. And has his deceased father hidden something from everyone?
Cerebral, sharp, funny, devastating. I'm looking forward to watching the movie, and am thankful that it brought this author to my attention.
I‘m about to start the tagged and this is why meets me - a list of Mr Everett‘s previous novels and the only one I‘ve read, The Threes, isn‘t even mentioned.
I‘m glad he has an extensive backlist in case he turns out to be a new favorite author
You can rent American Fiction on Amazon Prime aka the evil empire. WOW , this was a wonderful film! And no , ashamed to say I haven‘t read the book.
My initial thoughts on this book are that it‘s very smart (I wish I was in high school and my teacher could explain some of the symbolisms because I know a lot went over my head), it‘s extremely thought-provoking and is indeed “quietly devastating”. If I owned the copy I read there would be many underlined quotes and notes written in the margins, Everett truly has a gift for the written word.
Indeed, the wait is over. 🤗
I didn‘t know the Oscar nominated film American Fiction was adapted from this novel but I‘ll have to watch it once I‘ve finished the book.
Sly, lots of digs at both commercial & academic publishing, inventive dialogue between artists (Joyce & Wilde, Rauschenberg & de Kooning). What is radical art? What is new narrative territory? What is a Black story? 2001
P155 “epiphanies are like spicy foods: coming back, coming back.”
P2 “I told him that I was living a black life, far blacker than he could ever know, that I had lived one, that I would be living one.”
Saw this last night and greatly enjoyed it. It really makes one ponder about America's obsession with black trauma and how America does not listen to all the different perspectives of black lives. I hope to read the book this movie is based on some day. Have you seen this movie?
@rachelsbrittain - my #weekendreads are Erasure (tagged) on audio, and I'm debating between my #bookspin (The Paper Menagerie and other stories by Ken Liu) and #doublespin (A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas) for my next physical book. The movie made from Erasure, American Fiction, is the movie I'm most excited to see right now, based on how much I'm enjoying the book.
Oh wow, I‘ve got to read more by Percival Everett! I picked this audio up because I kept seeing references to the new film adaptation from the novel titled “American Fiction”. Thelonius, “Monk” is a published author, professor and all around academic. He thinks highly of his work but it has not taken off. He writes a “ghetto story”, which totally blows up. Add in an ailing mother and complicated family dynamics and we have a great read.
I thought this was really great! My first Everett. Biting, disturbing, but with characters I cared about. Probably should have chosen The Trees from @Deblovestoread ‘s #AuldLangSpine list, but of course I couldn‘t resist this one because of the movie. But I absolutely hope to read The Trees and other Everett titles soon. EXCELLENT audio narration by Sean Crisden.
Erasure looks both at the publishing industry and our greater society, examining people and race and what stories we want different people to tell. It‘s Everett, so it‘s brilliant, of course. Our discourse is ready for this book now, though it published back in 2001–he is WAY ahead of us!
With the arrival of the movie adaption, "American Fiction", I knew I wanted to read the original story prior to viewing and I am so glad I did. I was not prepared for how much I loved this novel. This may be one of the best satires I have ever read, but also includes family drama and a clear eyed view of the publishing industry in general.
Why Percival Everett is not one of the biggest names in literature is beyond me. The man is a genius and I‘m basing that on the TWO books I‘ve read. I‘m thrilled that I have such an extensive backlist to savor. No one does satire better.
This is my second Percival Everett in as many weeks. I‘ve loved them both. I can‘t wait to see American Fiction. Jeffrey Wright is perfectly cast 🙂
Woot! My second Everett and I loved it. He gives the reader a lot to think about, which I love in a novel. It begs the question about stereotype representation, in this case within the book publishing world, and of course society as a whole. This novel is about the burden and injustice of it. It‘s akin to the troubling issue of poverty tourism.
Is Monk, the MC, a sell-out or erased?🤔
I‘m so glad I have more of Everett‘s backlist to read.
Thelonious "Monk" Ellison is a critically acclaimed but little read writer, an awkward intellectual who never quite fits in. When he can't sell his new book because it's "not black enough," he writes a dialect-heavy, stereotype riddled parody--which is wildly successful. Meanwhile, his mother is losing her hold on reality. I wanted to read this before the movie American Fiction comes out--it will be interesting to see how close it is to the book.
Some of my favorite fiction from year. Absolutely loved the scathing, yet hilarious, Erasure. Can‘t wait to see the movie!
Link to an article on adaptations & this year's Golden Globe nominations. I haven't seen it, but I had no idea that American Fiction (a somewhat bland title IMO) is an adaptation of Everett's book. Oppenheimer remains my favorite movie of the year.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/10-adaptations-receive-...
Everett is a genius! This witty satire takes aim at the publishing industry brilliantly. An erudite author has to leave his professorship to care for his mother with Alzheimer‘s. He can‘t stand the new bestseller by another Black author written in pidgin. So knocking about with nothing to do, he writes an even worse one of his own, and things get even crazier from there. Wonderful side plots as well! That cover, too! 😳
This is an interesting collage of a novel, I picked it up because the movie trailer looks fantastic. In the trailer an author sees a Black woman gets a ton of money for a "ghetto" book and he tries his hand. The book is more about Monks family. I didn't love how bits of this novel were random conversations of characters not in the book, and a huge chunk is bits and pieces of the "author's" novels. Overall I enjoyed this though.
Well this one is easy, since our main character is named for Thelonious Monk!
I have been listing to him and I think Monk‘s Dream (Take 8) fits the vibe of the book best.
#booknotes @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
“My journal is a private affair, but as I cannot know the
time of my coming death, and since I am not disposed,
however unfortunately, to the serious consideration
of self-termination, I am afraid that others will see these pages.“
Getting this one read before the movie comes out!
#firstlinefriday @shybookowl
"Okay, I've got one for you. You're in a boat and your motor cuts out, but you are in shallow water, but you're wearing two hundred dollar trousers, but your ride to the airport is just about to drive away from the beach. Why is this a legal issue?"
"Linda was already in the bar when I arrived. She wrapped me up in a hug and I remembered how much like a bicycle she had felt in bed."
WHAT?? I had to read this multiple times....how does one feel like a bicycle during sex? ?.
Is he saying she is easy to get back on? How rude? Maybe? ?
Has anyone else seen the trailer for this film? Seems like it would be a great companion piece to Yellowface. I miss seeing interesting films in the theater - they seem so few these days - so I‘m really looking forward to this one.
“I was a victim of racism by virtue of my failing to acknowledge racial difference and by failing to have my art be defined as an exercise in racial self-expression.”
This quote by Monk Ellison, narrator of the book, sums it all up. Monk is a Black writer who notices more is gained by writing from a Black, preferably ghetto perspective than by writing what you want, regardless of race. ⬇️⬇️
This was the second book I read by PercivalEverett. It‘s not an easy read but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Thelonious Monk is a writer who hasn‘t gotmuch attentionfor his work.Erasure asks many questions such as What is good literature? As this is a book within a book, you‘ll enjoy the challenging read, laugh out loud, and marvel over Everett‘s skill in writing perfect métaphores that you won‘t have seen before.Definitely for experimental lit lovers.
I enjoyed this for the most part but the lengthy story-in-a-story was over the top...which I guess was the point. #boxwalla
I thoroughly enjoyed this funny, clever, provocative novel. It‘s richly satirical but also full of complex, humane emotion. Brilliant.
last book of the semester for my african american literature class! this one kinda tripped me up but my professor said that‘s kinda the whole point with metafiction. overall an incredibly smart and engrossing read, maybe too smart for me tbh 🤧 i also thought it was interesting that percival everett is married to danzy senna, the author of caucasia! ⭐️ 4.5/5 ⭐️
“The irony was beautiful. I was a victim of racism by virtue of my failing to acknowledge racial difference and by failing to have my art be defined as an exercise in racial self-expression.”
#blitsy
"Story idea--a man marries a woman whose name is the same as that of his first wife. One night while making love he says her name and the woman accuses him of calling out the name of his first wife. Of course he in fact has called out the name of his first wife, but also he has called out his present wife's name. He tells her that he was not thinking of his first wife, but she says she knows what she heard."
Congratulations on your Litsy milestone @BookaholicNatty ! Thank you so much for this giveaway and thanks @julesG for the tag 💜 These are three books from my TBR 🙂 #nattys25kgiveaway
I'll tag @Smarkies @bookishme @rohit-sawant