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Cover of James by Percival L. Everett

James

  • 320 pages · about 5 hours
  • First published 2024
  • 8 editions

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1 About this book

A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

Good for readers who want: humor, adventure, and friendship.

  • Friendship
  • Humor
  • Adventure
  • Race relations
  • Male friendship
  • Action and adventure fiction
  • Enslaved persons
  • People who escaped slavery

2 About Percival L. Everett

Born 1956

Percival Leonard Everett II (born December 22, 1956) is an American author and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. He has described himself as "pathologically ironic" and has explored numerous genres such as western fiction, mysteries, thrillers, satire and philosophical fiction. His books are often satirical, aimed at exploring race and identity issues in the United States.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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