It did take me awhile to become vested in this book. I knew it would be a great book but I had to get over my dislike of "dialect" writing. Once I sat down and just kept reading, the narrative caught my full attention and I finished the book. One of the things that Ann Patchett said about the author, Percival Everett, was that he "is the best-known writer you might not know". I was shocked to read that he has published over twenty novels, as well as short stories, poetry, and a children's book! Look him up, you will recognize some of his books. Anyway, it's a book you don't want to miss! ( )

A retelling of Huckleberry Finn with Jim, the enslaved 'friend' of Huck as the focus and told from his point of view.

James, no longer Jim, is a reader who has to hide his large vocabulary from White people and who pretends to get big words wrong, putting them through what he calls his 'slave filter'. Towards the beginning of the book, we find James teaching children to use their own 'slave filter',

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."
No page numbers, audiobook

This is what James calls a 'situational translation' and it is survival. There are shades of Erasure here where an author had to dumb down his writing and speak 'ghetto' in his book to write an 'authentic' story that 'spoke' to White people but was not necessarily the Black author's experience. It was just what White folk expect Black stories to be.

Having never read Huckleberry Finn it is nearly impossible for me to write about how closely, or not this book follows the story - pretty close in parts, I think. But Everett has also added in his own sections seamlessly such as James becoming part of a singing group that uses boot polish to 'Black up'. James has to use the polish plus some white make-up to make it seem as if he is a White man masquerading as a Black man. There is also a lot of hair touching going on in this section - is it a wig or is it his real hair?

This really is a remarkable novel, one that can be read separately to Huckleberry Finn. Everett is never afraid to take that most of American icons, this time Mark Twain's Huck, and rewrite to balance what it means to be American from a Black point of view.

It's on my list of best books in 2024. ( )

Brilliant storytelling. A riveting reimagination of characters from an iconic volume in American literature. A tale that skillfully blends humor, humanity and unexpected twists to explore issues that remain as timely today as they did in the Civil War era. What isn’t there not to admire in Percival Everett’s latest work? Given the fact that I was utterly delighted a year or so ago when I read Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” I wasn’t entirely surprised that I devoured “James” in only a few days. This is one book that is deserving of all the “hype” in literary circles. ( )

Percival Everett seems to be a very angry man. The story was good. I liked Trees better. ( )

Oh, how I wanted to get a review copy of James. But I didn't. So I purchased it and read it today. I went into James knowing only that It was the story of Jim and Huck told from Jim's perspective. If you haven't read it yet, don't try to find out more. Just get your hands on it and read. Let the surprises in the book surprise you. ( )