I am very jealous that you have apparently just discovered Paul Beatty. He has always been this hilarious, since his first novel The White Boy Shuffle. His early poetry, which deliberately sounds like doggerel but has the same slyness is fun, too.
If you've never seen it, Spike Lee's film Bamboozled is the same really DARK and funny vibe, going through the looking glass so to speak.
First off, yay on the Locus list. Second off, yes, please, review Isaac. And third off, the Sellout is great. It plays hard into its absurd premise and I rate it for that.
Thanks for the word. Beatty just rocketed to the top of my list. As a near-lifelong Angeleno forced by circumstance into exile behind the orange curtain I love sampling depictions of the tawdry, worn-out corners of LA-la land, places further from Hollywood than they are from Manhattan. That’s mostly to compare notes. Like a Comanche captive in the 1850s I went native for a long spell and have never completely re-converted to full whiteness. (Can’t say much more, it’s best to keep one’s head down with such things.)
I haven't read The Sellout, but Beatty's White Boy Shuffle was pretty amazing.
Came here to say the same!
I loved The Sellout. When are we getting another Paul Beatty novel?
Was amazed at what a great book this was and how it cracked me up. Brilliant work by Mr, Beatty!
I am very jealous that you have apparently just discovered Paul Beatty. He has always been this hilarious, since his first novel The White Boy Shuffle. His early poetry, which deliberately sounds like doggerel but has the same slyness is fun, too.
If you've never seen it, Spike Lee's film Bamboozled is the same really DARK and funny vibe, going through the looking glass so to speak.
You're the second to recommend White Boy Shuffle! I'll have to check it out
I read the Sellout a few years ago and I laughed all the way through it, great book.
First off, yay on the Locus list. Second off, yes, please, review Isaac. And third off, the Sellout is great. It plays hard into its absurd premise and I rate it for that.
Thanks for the word. Beatty just rocketed to the top of my list. As a near-lifelong Angeleno forced by circumstance into exile behind the orange curtain I love sampling depictions of the tawdry, worn-out corners of LA-la land, places further from Hollywood than they are from Manhattan. That’s mostly to compare notes. Like a Comanche captive in the 1850s I went native for a long spell and have never completely re-converted to full whiteness. (Can’t say much more, it’s best to keep one’s head down with such things.)
Ten years already? Thanks for this look back at an important book.