James: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize Winner) [B0569]

2024 HCDJ. Pulitzer Prize Winner. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER. SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE. KIRKUS PRIZE WINNER. A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. In development as a feature film to be produced by Steven Spielberg. "A masterpiece that will help redefine one of the classics of American literature, while also being a major achievement on its own."-Chicago Tribune.

When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many narrative set pieces of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river's banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin...), Jim's agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light. James is destined to be a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "It's an incredible book. I do think it helps to know the story and some of the main characters of Twain's Huck Finn before reading, but I think it's still powerful as a stand-alone. And this line is SO relevant: 'they take the lies they want and throw away the truths that scare them.'"; "Excellent ending! Bravo, Percival Everett! Half way through, I almost gave up and didn't finish -- then I got to part II. It sped up after that and got better and better. I couldn't put it down. (Hint, keep reading.) If you get half way through, you're likely to read the 2nd half in a single afternoon, it's that good."; "Wow wow wow. Believe the hype. This book is so incredible I literally could not put it down. "