Book of the Week: JAMES by Percival Everett

James is an enthralling and ferociously funny novel that leaves an indelible mark, forcing us to see Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in a transformed and transformative light. 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 decides to hide on 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. Thus begins a dangerous and transcendent journey by raft along the Mississippi River, toward the elusive promise of free states and beyond. James is Jim’s story as Huckleberry Finn is Huck’s. Everett is at his most playful with the things he is most serious about: language, racism, justice, liberty; this book is clever, farcical, exuberant, unsparing — and a huge amount of fun to read.

• Race, language and art.

• His target may be language itself.

• “I hated them all.”

• Two masterpieces.

• The matrix of performance.

• Owning the language.

• Voice and power.

• The Trees.