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| Categories | Genre Fiction |
| Author | Percival Everett |
| Publisher | Random House Large Print; Large type / Large print edition (March 19, 2024) |
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 368 pages |
| Item Weight | 2.31 pounds |
| Dimensions |
6.1 x 0.97 x 9.16 inches |
I. Book introduction
James is a novel by author Percival Everett published by Doubleday in 2024. The novel is a re-imagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain but told from the perspective of Huckleberry’s friend on his travels, Jim, who is an escaped slave. The novel won the 2024 Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction.
A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view. • From the “cult literary icon” (Oprah Daily), Pulitzer Prize Finalist, and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime
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 The 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.
Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a “cult literary icon” (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.
About the Author (Percival Everett)
Percival Everett (Percival Leonard Everett II, born December 22, 1956) is an American writer and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. He has described himself as “pathologically ironic” and has played around with 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.
He is best known for his novels Erasure (2001), I Am Not Sidney Poitier (2009), and The Trees (2021), which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize. His 2024 novel James, also a finalist for the Booker Prize, won the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction.
Erasure was adapted as the film American Fiction (2023), written and directed by Cord Jefferson, starring Jeffrey Wright, Sterling K. Brown, and Leslie Uggams.
II. Reviewer: James by Percival Everett
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1. JAMIE reviews for James by Percival Everett
Whoa, that was so not was I was expecting. Despite the Goodreads blurb that calls this book “ferociously funny” and “brimming with electrifying humor,” I didn’t really find much to laugh about while reading it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I was just surprised by how serious and thought-provoking this novel ended up being. I mean, sure, there are a few funny bits here and there, but I definitely wouldn’t consider this to be a humorous book overall.
But, with that said, James is a brilliant piece of fiction and I have once again been wowed by Percival Everett’s talent. (As an aside, if you want to read a truly funny book by Everett, grab yourself a copy of The Trees. It’s amazing.) Everett manages to stay true to the tone and style of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn while at the same time creating something completely different with runaway slave Jim as the narrator.
This is not an easy book to read … well, subject-wise, anyway. Lots of terrible things happen to good people, mostly just because of the color of their skin. There are awful characters who degrade and take advantage of Jim just because they can. There is murder and rape and violence and death. I’ve read books about slavery before, but somehow this one brought home the inhumanity of it like no other. I foresee lots of challenges to this book by the “slavery wasn’t really all that bad,” red hat-wearing, book-burning crowd.
I flew through this book and found it basically unputdownable. I read the first 80% in one sitting, forced myself to go to bed around 3 a.m., and then finished the last bit first thing the next morning. It’s exciting and suspenseful and heart-wrenching all at the same time, and the ending was fantastic.
If you enjoyed the original Huck Finn, you’ll probably love this version at least as much, if not more. Percival Everett is an incredibly talented author and a national treasure, and this latest book of his deserves all of the praise and recognition that will undoubtedly come its way.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.
2. REBECCA reviews for James by Percival Everett
UPDATE: JAMES HAS BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKER PRIZE!
‘But my interest is in how these marks that I am scratching on this page can mean anything at all. If they can have meaning, then life can have meaning, then I can have meaning.’
James by Percival Everett is a literary gem that takes readers on a thought provoking journey through the life of its protagonist, Jim. Everett’s writing is sharp, witty, and deeply engaging, making it easy to get lost in the layers of meaning he weaves into the narrative.
James is a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn but told from the perspective of Huckleberry’s friend Jim, an escaped slave. Set against the backdrop of the American South in the late nineteenth century around the time of the Civil War. The narrative explores themes of memory, identity, race, and the complexities of human relationships with a refreshing honesty and a touch of humour.
Everett’s ability to blend heartfelt insights with entertaining storytelling is what makes this book a standout. The characters are vividly drawn and relatable, and you can’t help but become invested in their lives. Everett’s prose is both lyrical and accessible, making it a pleasure to read from start to finish.
James is a stunningly written thought provoking novel that showcases Percival Everett’s incredible talent.
My Highest Recommendation.
‘With this pencil I write myself into being.’
3. DIANE S reviews for James by Percival Everett
Before I started reading this I had the thought that maybe I should re-read Huck Finn. I decided not to and shortly after I started reading I remembered more and more of the original. What Everett has done here could not be done by many authors. He is, quite frankly, brilliant. He has made James a person in his own right. A multi layered, intelligent, deeply caring man who just happens to be a slave. His sorrow, his empathy for Huck, even some wry humor as Huck and James try to find a world of acceptance for whom they are.
I loved how though Huck knew James was black, was a slave, he didn’t know what that meant. His acceptance of James for who he was, his innocence shines through his short life of heartache and abuse at the hands of his father.
I in no way think my review can possibly do this novel justice. One really must experience this book for oneself. Everett has quickly become a favorite of mine and I am looking forward to what he chooses to write about next. It is hard to write acceptable alternative histories. Comparisons often fall short, but not in this case. He has, in fact, made Huck and James story even better.
The narration was perfect. Hearing the story in James words, made this reading experience even better.
4. MEKISHA MEBANE reviews for James by Percival Everett
A hard but good read…..
This book was a good but very hard read. The storyline was one that keeps you turning pages but it wasn’t something that I’d choose to read on my own. I read it with my alumni book club. The story was engaging and very realistic (almost too realistic). I’ve never read Huckleberry Finn so I had nothing to compare it to. The author did a great job telling our history and I’d suggest that anyone read it if they want to learn more about slavery.
5. REEM reviews for James by Percival Everett
A Powerful and Surprising Read
A brilliant retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but from Jim’s perspective. I love how it stays connected to the original book while giving us a completely new way to see the story. It feels so current and relevant, making you think about history in a fresh way and how much it’s true till today.
The writing is smart and engaging, and just when you think you know what’s coming, it surprises you. This book is powerful, thought-provoking, well written and a must-read for anyone who loves classic stories told from a new perspective.
6. SUSAN S reviews for James by Percival Everett
This is the story of Jim/James, the enslaved man we first met in 1884, where he is portrayed as stupid, subservient and superstitious. In Percival Everett’s retelling of the Twain adventure, we meet the man behind Twain’s caricature. James is a well-spoken man who can read and write and who has read many of the books in Judge Thatcher’s library. In front of white people he and many blacks use a slave dialect, in which a portion of the novel is written. When James hears he may be sold, he runs away and plans to hide out in the can buy his wife Sadie’s and daughter Lizzie’s freedom. While hiding out he runs into Huck Finn who’s running away from his drunken father who has apparently returned to town.
The remaining part of the story centers on Huck and James running, escaping capture, falling in with grifters, the Duke and the King, joining a minstrel troupe, getting separated from Huck, and various other escapades. James meets a Black man passing for white-Norman; an enslaved girl passing for a boy, and while stowaways on a paddle boat, he meets a crazy, enslaved boiler engineer. The riverboat explodes and James sees Huck flailing in the water, who was apparently still with the Duke and the King and his friend Norman who can’t swim. Along the way, thereafter, James has many life and death decisions to make as he continues his quest for freedom amid talk of a war to free the slaves.
I the end, we come to know James as a proud, noble man, trying to right wrongs,free his family, and care for Huck in the best way he can. Beautifully written, it is a heart wrenching story of racism and the fight for freedom and dignity.
7. WENDELL BOSWORTH reviews for James by Percival Everett
An unvarnished view of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective.
Just finished reading “James: A Novel, ” by Percival Everett. It’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” as seen from Jim’s perspective. It’s excellent: well written, hard to put down and a compelling story. Alas, I haven’t read Huckleberry Finn in decades. I cheated and watched the movie with Mickey Roonie. I can’t imagine Twain writing the ALMOST schmaltzie treatment of Jim as a slave – no cruelty, just treating Jim as a beloved yet misbehaving pet.
Everett’s Jim is treated with great cruelty and yet carries it well. I can’t explain what that means. You’ll have to read it. Good
8. KAREN reviews for James by Percival Everett
A fabulous read… action packed.. humorous in many spots and moves at a fast pace!
This is the story of James, a runaway slave who needs to get money to buy his wife and daughter from the slave owner. Huck is helpful here too.
This all happens right before the start of The Civil War. Some surprises!
I listened to most of Huckleberry Finn on audio prior to reading this..I think you should have some knowledge of that story before reading this… you can find a summary of that book online.
9. BARBARA reviews for James by Percival Everett
“I was as much scared as angry, but where does a slave put anger? We could be angry with one another, we were human. But the real source of our rage had to go without address, swallowed, repressed.”
This is not Mark Twain’s Jim. This is a new Jim. This is James, still enslaved but revealing his authentic self, not the demeanor that the enslavers require. He is an astute reader and thinker, a devoted husband and father, able to activate the facade of an obedient and dull-witted slave when needed when interacting with those who see him as less than human.
Everett’s reimagining of Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is brilliant. It is both funny and tragic. I travelled along with James through each adventure, each danger. I held my breath, I cheered, I was enraged.
James is longlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize and well worthy of it. Whether or not it wins, it should be required reading. I can foresee it being included in high school English curriculum – at least in some states.
10. FABIAN reviews for James by Percival Everett
“James” is revisionism at its best. After 140 years, Jim, the black slave from “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, is given his own voice and what he has to say is exciting, funny, absurd and shocking. Although the story is well known, it opens your eyes even though you would rather close them. What is described is too shameful. The arrogance of the whites, their complacency, cruelty and double standards – it’s all hard to bear and yet the history here is also a mirror of the present.
“James” is an adventure novel, a literary road movie, in which numerous colorful characters appear that remain in your memory. It is also an astute – almost Shakespearean – play on the absurdities of racism, in which a black man among whites with blackface must first be made up white in order to be able to convincingly embody this blackface. In which language serves as a strategy, as a means of resistance and self-assurance.
“James” is the novel that “The Underground Railroad” or “Washington Black” should have been. It is a novel that tells of the unspeakable with ease, whose delicate heaviness first goes to your head and then sinks into your heart, where you carry it with you for a long time.
III. James Quotes by Percival Everett
The best book quotes from James by Percival Everett
“Folks be funny lak dat. Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ’em.”
“How strange a world, how strange an existence, that one’s equal must argue for one’s equality, that one’s equal must hold a station that allows airing of that argument, that one cannot make that argument for oneself, that premises of said argument must be vetted by those equals who do not agree.”
“I had already come to understand the tidiness of lies, the lesson learned from the stories told by white people seeking to justify my circumstance. I appreciated Voltaire’s notion of tolerance regarding religious difference and I understood, as absorbed as I was, that I was not interested in the content of the work, but its structure, the movement of it, the calling out of logical fallacies. And so, after these books, the Bible itself was the least interesting of all. I could not enter it, did not want to enter it, and then understood that I recognized it as a tool of my enemy. I chose the word enemy, and still do, as oppressor necessarily supposes a victim.”
“At that moment the power of reading made itself clear and real to me. If I could see the words, then no one could control them or what I got from them. They couldn’t even know if I was merely seeing them or reading them, sounding them out or comprehending them. It was a completely private affair and completely free and, therefore, completely subversive.”
“If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not learning.”
“Belief has nothing to do with truth.”
“I had never seen a white man filled with such fear. The remarkable truth, however, was that it was not the pistol, but my language, the fact that I didn’t conform to his expectations, that I could read, that had so disturbed and frightened him.”
“Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ’em.”
“There is no God, child. There’s religion but there’s no God of theirs. Their religion tells that we will get our reward in the end. However, it apparently doesn’t say anything about their punishment. But when we’re around them, we believe in God. Oh, Lawdy Lawd, we’s be believin’. Religion is just a controlling tool they employ and adhere to when convenient.”
“I hated the world that wouldn’t let me apply justice without the certain retaliation of injustice.”
“I can tell you that I am a man who is cognizant of his world, a man who has a family, who loves a family, who has been torn from his family, a man who can read and write, a man who will not let his story be self-related, but self-written.”
“Which would frighten you more? A slave who is crazy or a slave who is sane and sees you clearly?”
“I did not look away. I wanted to feel the anger. I was befriending my anger, learning not only how to feel it, but perhaps how to use it.”
“We’re slaves. We’re not anywhere. Free person, he can be where he wants to be. The only place we can ever be is in slavery.”
“But my interest is in how these marks that I am scratching on this page can mean anything at all. If they can have meaning, then life can have meaning, then I can have meaning.”
“- You know, dull tools are much more dangerous than sharp ones.
– I paused to admire his metaphor, but he continued.”“The children said together, “And the better they feel, the safer we are.” “February, translate that.” “Da mo’ betta dey feels, da mo’ safer we be.” “Nice.”
“With my pencil, I wrote myself into being.”
“I considered the northern white stance against slavery. How much of the desire to end the institution was fueled by a need to quell and subdue white guilt and pain? Was it just too much to watch? Did it offend Christian sensibilities to live in a society that allowed that practice? I knew that whatever the cause of their war, freeing slaves was an incidental premise and would be an incidental result.”
“To fight in a war,’ he said. ‘Can you imagine?’
‘Would that mean facing death every day and doing what other people tell you to do?’ I asked.
‘I reckon.’
‘Yes, Huck. I can imagine.”“I felt tired of the failures of men. They were always failing in the most basic ways, like looking down or away at the moment when they should be gutsy enough to meet your eye.”
“I saw the surface of her, merely the outer shell, and realized that she was mere surface all the way to her core.”
“Religion is just a controlling tool they employ and adhere to when convenient.”
“I am a sign. I am your future. I am James.”
“Way I sees it is dis. If’n ya gots to hab a rule to tells ya wha’s good, if’n ya gots to hab good ’splained to ya, den ya cain’t be good. If’n ya need sum kinda God to tells ya right from wrong, den you won’t never know.”
“He could have gone through life without the knowledge I had given him and he would have been no worse off for it. But I understood at that moment that I had shared the truth with him for myself. I needed for him to have a choice.”
“What you’re saying is that if someone pays you enough, it’s okay to abandon what you have claimed to understand as moral and right.”
“Why did God set it up like this?” Rachel asked. “With them as masters and us as slaves?” “There is no God, child. There’s religion but there’s no God of theirs. Their religion tells that we will get our reward in the end. However, it apparently doesn’t say anything about their punishment. But when we’re around them, we believe in God. Oh, Lawdy Lawd, we’s be believin’. Religion is just a controlling tool they employ and adhere to when convenient.” “There must be something,” Virgil said. “I’m sorry, Virgil. You might be right. There might be some higher power, children, but it’s not their white God. However, the more you talk about God and Jesus and heaven and hell, the better they feel.” The children said together, “And the better they feel, the safer we are.”
“White people often spent time admiring their survival of one thing or another. I imagined it was because so often they had no need to survive, but only to live.”
“Is she dead?” Norman asked. I rolled her onto her stomach to try to force the water out of her. I pushed on her chest and her shirt came up to reveal a hole. “Is that…” Norman stopped. I touched the blackened indentation. “She’s been shot,” I said. “Good Lord,” Norman said. “She’s dead.” “We should have left her where she was,” Norman said. “At least she’d be a live slave. Not just another dead runaway.” I studied the lifeless body on the ground before me. “She was dead when I found her,” I said. “She’s just now died again, but this time she died free.”
Excerpted from James by Percival Everett
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