PREMISE: A resident of the fictional Los Angeles suburb of Dickens, the narrating character, Me, a black man with an impoverished upbringing, is hauled before the Supreme Court of the United States for attempting to re-segregate a local school and bring back slavery. What follows is a biting attack on racism in America.
What a premise for a book. Obviously difficult for a white man to pull off, but in the hands of someone as naturally funny and gifted as Paul Beatty, it’s a belter. I would imagine there’s a thousand-odd reviews of this book on the net that use the term ‘biting satire’. In fact, any book blogger worth his salt would research this and find out exactly how many, but I just can’t be arsed. My time would be better spent contacting Mr. Beatty to ask him for another book (this being his last one, published in 2015). In fact, I’m going to do that right now. Although with that said, I don’t seem to have his contact details in my phone. Any book blogger worth his salt would research this and find out how to contact him or his publisher, but I just can’t be arsed. Mr. Beatty…if you’re reading this (??!!!!) please give us another one…
2019 Portland Award winner, don’t you know.
Portable Wonderland 