Review of "Erasure: A Novel" by Percival Everett

  

 

Warning: This book and my review contain profanity that might offend some readers.


In this humorous satire, Percival Everett caricatures the preferences of the publishing industry - and the public - who expect books to conform to racial stereotypes. The book was adapted into the movie 'American Fiction'.

*****

Thelonius Ellison (Monk) is a Black novelist and professor at the University of California.



Monk's erudite books seem to target elite scholarly readers. For example, Monk reworked 'The Persians' of Aeschylus and wrote a book in which Aristophanes and Euripides kill a younger, more talented dramatist, then contemplate the death of metaphysics.



Monk's lofty story ideas are sprinkled through the narrative, and include things like: a retelling of Petronius's 'Satyricon'; a woman gives birth to a six-pound egg; Ernst Barlach and Paul Klee discuss art censorship; Dietrich Eckhart and Adolf Hitler talk about being Judenfressers (persecutors of Jews); and more.



Monk likes to poke fun at innovative writers, and at a conference of the 'Nouveau Roman Society', Monk reads his paper, titled 'F/V: Placing the Experimental Novel'.



Monk's paper says things like: "S/Z * The title perhaps answers any question before it is raised, making it in some sense an anti-title.....In establishing its own subject, ostensibly Balzac's Sarrasine, it raises the question of whether that text is indeed its subject. And of course it is not".....etc. Monk's paper is long and incomprehensible, and he gets death threats from a furious editor.



In the Ellison family, Monk is something of an outlier. Monk's grandfather and father were physicians, and Monk's brother Bill and sister Lisa are doctors now.



As the book opens, Monk has flown to Washington, D.C., where he grew up, to visit his widowed mother and sister Lisa.



Monk's mother has early signs of dementia, and is largely cared for by her long-time housekeeper Lorraine.



Finances are an issue with regard to Monk's mother, who'll soon need an expensive long-term care facility. Neither Monk nor Lisa has much money, and Bill - who lives in Arizona - recently came out as gay after 15 years of marriage. Bill wife's took him to court and got the kids, the house, the money, everything. In addition, Bill's practice is failing because everyone now knows he's gay, and Bill owes more money than he makes.



While Monk is in Washington, D.C., he browses through a bookstore and is irate to see his books shelved with 'African American Studies' rather than 'Literature' or 'Contemporary Fiction'. Monk notes, "The only thing ostensibly African American [about my books] is my jacket photograph".



In the bookstore, Monk spots a display for a runaway bestseller titled 'We's Lives In Da Ghetto' by Juanita Mae Jenkins.



Jenkins is a Black Midwesterner who visited some relatives in Harlem for two days when she was twelve. The opening paragraph of 'We's Lives In Da Ghetto' reads, "My fahvre be gone since time I's borned and it be just me an' my momma an' my baby brover Juneboy. In da mornin' Juneboy never do brushes his teefus, so I gots to remind him. Because dat, Momma says I be the 'sponsible one and tell that I gots to hold things togever while she be at work clean dem white people's house."



The book makes Monk feel sick, and he's horrified to learn it's being called a masterpiece of African American literature, and that it's going to be a movie for which Jenkins got three million dollars.

When Monk is back in California, his sister Lisa is shot dead in her clinic. Monk takes an unpaid leave of absence from his job and moves to Washington, D.C. to help take care of his mother, and to (eventually) find a long-term facility for her.



Monk needs an income, but his latest novels can't find a publisher. Monk's frustrated agent Yul says Monk should "forget about writing retellings of Euripides and parodies of French poststructuralists and settle down to write the true, gritty real stories of Black life." Monk doesn't want to compromise his principles though.



After Juanita Mae Jenkins' face appears on the cover of 'Time' magazine, Monk pens a book called 'My Pafology' by Stagg R. Leigh. The ten-chapter novel (all of which is included in Erasure) is about a Black high-school dropout called Van Go Jenkins.



Jenkins introduces himself as follows: "My name is Van Go Jenkins and I'm nineteen years old and I don't give a fuck about nobody, not you, not my Mama, not the man....And what I'm gone do instead of going to work over at that Jew muthafucka's warehouse over on Central is go over to the high school and wait for [my baby] Rexall's mama [Cleona]. She's a dreamer, always talkin about graduatin and goin to the community college and bein a nurse or some shit....she be actin funny a lot, like she think I ain't good enough fo' her ass. Fuck her". Van Go then goes on to trick and seduce Cleona into having sex with him.



In a nutshell, this is the plot of 'My Pafology': Van Go Jenkins - whom everybody calls Go - has four children with four women, and he's always looking to have sex with random women and make more babies. Go can't keep a job; is disrespectful to his Mama; beats up young Black men who show signs of success; hangs out in Fatman's poolroom with his friends Yellow and Tito; wants a gun so he can rob 'that K'rean muthamucka over in the plaza' and a bank; and so on. In short, Go is the stereotypical Black ghetto youth.



Monk insists his agent Yul send 'My Pafology' to publishers with the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh, and both men are happily shocked when Random House offers $600,000 for the novel.



Yul tells Monk the editor Paula Baderman said 'It's true to life...an important book...magnificently raw and honest...the kind of book that they will be reading in high schools thirty years from now.'



Monk changes the book's title to 'Fuck', and as might be expected, Hollywood mogul Wiley Morgenstein offers three million dollars for the movie rights.





This unexpected success puts Monk in a pickle. He doesn't want to reveal himself as the real Stagg R. Leigh, but Wiley Morgenstein insists on meeting the author, and talk show host Kenya Dunston wants Leigh to promote his book on her program.



Monk manages both appearances 'incognito' but there's more trouble to come. Monk becomes a judge for 'The Book Award' and 'My Pafology' is nominated. Ha ha ha ha ha. All this is quite entertaining, as you might imagine.

Actually, 'Erasure' addresses more than the publishing industry. The novel touches on racism; middle-class Black life; sibling rivalry; fishing; carpentry; family relations; and more. Among other things, Monk learns his married father had an affair with an English nurse during the Korean War, and a child was born; and Monk experiences tension with his brother Bill, whose coming out causes problems that Bill deflects onto Monk.



Erasure is an excellent book, as is the film version 'American Fiction' (which actually has a better ending than the novel). I highly recommend both the book and the movie.



I had access to a digital copy of the book as well as the audiobook, narrated by Sean Crisden, who does an excellent job.

Rating: 4 stars 

Review of "Inside Man: A Head Cases Thriller" by John McMahon

 

 

In this second book in the 'Head Cases' series, a special unit of the FBI investigates a domestic militia and searches for a serial killer. The book can be read as a standalone but I'd advise readers to begin with Head Cases.

*****

The Pattern and Recognitions (PAR) unit of the FBI, based in Miami, Florida, is called in for difficult and abstruse cases. PAR agents are brainiacs with unique abilities, like eidetic memory, math expertise, etc. The leader of the PAR, who narrates the story, is Agent Gardner Camden.



Initially, the PAR agents were confined to office work, studying the evidence and files from unsolved cases, to look for new clues. Now, PAR personnel go into the field, where they encounter trouble and life-threatening danger.

The current members of the PAR are:

✦✦ Gardner Camden - lead agent of the PAR and the book's main protagonist.

Gardner is a socially awkward 'by the book' agent with an eidetic memory. Gardner observes about himself: "Riddles. Those are my specialty. That is, when I am not studying patterns. Or decoding enigmas. Some might say that solving puzzles is all I'm good for. That leaving my desk in the FBI to interact with real people is not the best use of my time or talent. And I would agree with them."



When Gardner's daughter Camila was a baby, Gardner had his wife Anna sent to prison for RICO violations. Now Gardner is raising 8-year-old Camila with the help of his mother-in-law Rosa, who's very angry about Anna.



Gardner's own mother, a psychiatrist who knew Gardner's mind was different from other people, brought Gardner up with helpful advice. She would say: 'It's beautiful to be unlike other people; A full life is full of people, not facts; Never use your intellect as a weapon'; and more.



Now, Gardner's mother, who has dementia, is in a coma due to an incident in 'Head Cases'.

✦✦ Cassie Pardo - a mathematician.

Cassie is an expert at what are called imaginary and unknown numbers. Cassie is often tasked with analyzing crime scenes and finding creative solutions to difficult problems. Cassie is a dynamo of energy and frequently uses youthful slang, such as 'dayger' (daytime rager) and 'it slays'.



Cassie and Gardner have romantic sparks, but their jobs make it difficult to move ahead with a personal relationship.

✦✦ Joanne (Shooter) Harris - a sharpshooter.

Joanne learned to track from the age of six and to shoot from the age of eight. Joanne was on the Olympic shooting team before joining the FBI, and she's a markswoman and ballistics expert who can instinctively trace the trajectory of a bullet.



Joanne is the jokester of the PAR team, and can't resist wisecracks and witty remarks. To demonstrate, Joanne tells Gardner, "I used to date a guy who worked at the morgue. Eventually he decided it was a dead end job."

✦✦ Richie Brancato - the rookie agent.

Richie joined the PAR right out of Quantico, partly because his grandfather used to be the FBI director. Richie has been called a 'nepo agent', but he's shown he belongs in the PAR because he's brave, confident, and can pick out important clues from reams of research and data.



Richie considers himself "a foodie through and through", and for lunch one day, Richie buys Minorcan clam chowder for the PAR team.



*****

As the story opens, Freddie Pecos - a confidential informant (CI) for the PAR - has been shot dead. Gardner and Shooter find Freddie's body in his trailer and search the premises, where they find boxes of bogus debit cards and cash.
.


Freddie was giving the PAR information about an unemployment scam netting millions of dollars for a domestic right wing militia run by arms dealer J.P. Sandoval.



Pecos revealed that Sandoval was amassing a supply of unmarked weapons with no serial numbers (ghost guns). These were meant to be used against law enforcement personnel, the motto being "Kill a cop. Drop the gun. And walk away."



On top of that, the PAR lost track of a quarter-million-dollar gun shipment sent to the militia. It would appear Sandoval is planning a MAJOR domestic terror attack in the near future.



FBI director Craig Poulton tells PAR leader Gardner Camden, 'Get a new CI, find the shipment of guns, and figure out what's going on with the ghost guns, and do it NOW.'



PAR's first order of business is to investigate the murder of Freddie Pecos, and a blurry photo from a Miami ATM machine - showing an unidentified man speaking to Freddie - is an important clue. In a eureka development, it turns out the unidentified man is also a serial killer who's been murdering women in North Florida.



After this discovery, the PAR has two missions: find the illegal weapons purchased by the militia, and catch the serial killer. The dual investigations require PAR agents to fly back and forth between North Florida and South Florida, drive to towns and cities all over the state, liaise with a number of sheriffs and police departments, go to Washington, DC, and more. Along the way there's adventure, danger, and life-threatening situations.



In the midst of all this, Gardner also goes home when he can, to be with his daughter Camila. Gardner plays riddle and puzzle games with Camila, takes her out for ice cream, goes to her science fair, and so on.

The PAR manages to resolve both cases, but there's big trouble along the way.



Author John McMahon provides picturesque descriptions of Florida, which gives the book an authentic atmosphere. To illustrate, while Gardner is driving, he observes, "On my left, was the wide expanse of Florida, home to endless farms, as well as hundreds of miles of wetlands. The agriculture included tree nuts and berries, melons, sweet potatoes, and tobacco. Livestock ranches sold sheep, donkeys, and cattle. Some even cultivated Christmas trees."



I enjoyed the book, which is a police procedural and thriller. My major criticism is that the resolution of the serial killer case seems abrupt and unlikely. Still, I'd recommend the book to mystery fans, especially readers who liked 'Head Cases.'

Thanks to Netgalley, John McMahon, and Minotaur Books for an ARC of the novel.

Rating: 3.5 stars 

Review of "A History of the African-American People" by Strom Thurmond (as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid)

  

This satirical novel, first published in 2004 and re-released in 2026, is hilarious and completely bonkers. In the epistolary story - related mostly in letters, notes, and memos - Senator Strom Thurmond (1902 - 2003) is writing a history of the African-American people with the help of ghostwriters Percival Everett and James Kincaid.

This is the background, in case you need a refresher: Strom Thurmond served as a U.S. Senator from South Carolina for nearly half a century, from 1954 to 2003. Thurmond was a notorious racist and segregationist who promoted Jim Crow laws under the guise of supporting states rights.


Senator Strom Thurmond

*****

The book opens in 2002 when Senator Strom Thurmond is approaching his 100th birthday.



The Senator's advisor Barton Wilkes writes to Simon & Schuster Publishers in New York, proposing a book called 'A History of the African-American People' by Strom Thurmond.



Wilkes asserts, "As the history of the African-American people has been, to a great extent, coextensive with the Senator's own, he will be able to draw on his own life experience (and not just in politics) for much of his material."

The book proposal is followed by a good deal of correspondence among aide Barton Wilkes;



a lower echelon Simon & Schuster editor called Martin Snell;



and Snell's novice assistant R. Juniper McCloud.



Coming to believe Thurmond's book will be a bestseller that gets him a promotion, Snell approves the project. Two professors from the University of Southern California are engaged to ghostwrite: Percival Everett - a Black writer; and James Kincaid - a White scholar and author.


Percival Everett (left) and James Kincaid

Everett and Kincaid repeatedly ask Wilkes about Thurmond's plan for the history book, but all Wilkes sends are excerpts from an anthology of documents compiled by Herbert Aptheker. Examples of the passages are:

➤➤ From 'An Address of Delegates of the State Convention of the Colored People of South Carolina to the White Inhabitants of South Carolina' in 1865: "We fully recognize the truth of the maxim, 'The gods help those that help themselves'." Wilkes asserts, "That is, they simply wanted the opportunity to develop their domestic and commercial lives by helping themselves."



➤➤ From a speech by Booker T. Washington in 1884: "The best course to pursue in regard to the civil rights bill of the South is to let it alone.....Good schoolteachers and money to pay them will be more potent in settling the race question than many civil rights bills and investigating committees."


Booker T. Washington

➤➤ From an address to the U.S. Congress from 'The National Association of Colored Men' in 1896: "We mark the opening of the militant period of our race in this country....Our calm deliberate advice is for every member of the race henceforth to employ every weapon of every kind of warfare...in the demand for every right."



It becomes clear that Thurmond and Wilkes' agenda is to clean up the Senator's reputation, and Thurmond himself tells Everett and Kincaid, "I'm getting old...And when I die I'd like to have a seat at the big party....I'm talking about heaven....I'm trying to make amends, trying to have my parking ticket validated...I realize I've done some underhanded things and that I've hurt a lot of colored people. But hell, I hope I've hurt as many liberals and Jews...Times have changed. Now we've got Muslims and Arabs to hate. You know a lot of them are pretty dark. What's that tell you?"



In addition, when Everett and Kincaid visit Senator Thurmond in Washington, the politician exhibits a foggy memory. Kincaid comments to Everett, "Is he a piece of work or what? Can't recall if the servants were black." And Everett responds, "I should have asked if the slaves were black."

Wilkes' letters to Everett and Kincaid also demonstrate his own insensitivity. As an example, Wilkes writes:

"Dear Percival and Jim,

.....Tell me more about yourselves. Which one is Black?....Only one of you is Black, right? Neither name is much of a giveaway, is it? But then, they seldom are. Jackson, perhaps, or Johnson, but then you can get into serious troubles by making such assumptions, believe you me. Now, if one of you were named Shumoonunu Ackabawka, then I wouldn't have to ask. But neither of you is, so I must."



Though a good part of the book skewers Strom Thurmond and Barton Wilkes, authors Everett and Kincaid take the opportunity to amuse themselves with endless 'jokes' about the publishing industry; loony editors; horny men; niche books; and more.



For instance, editorial assistant R. Juniper McCloud - who's a sort of dogsbody for the African-American history book - attracts unwanted sexual attention from his boss Martin Snell AND from Thurmond's assistant Barton Wilkes.

Amongst myriad other things, Snell sends Juniper a note inviting him to a St. Patrick's Day party. Snell writes, "We'll each wear (or adorn ourselves with) green in places...There will be prizes for those who can most successfully search out each other's green pastures, so to speak." Snell signs the missive, "Love and I mean it, Martin."



As for kinky Wilkes, he repeatedly sends Juniper suggestive letters, and in one note, Wilkes describes a childhood game of doctor. Wilkes recalls, "I was always the patient, carefully undressed and probed by a large hospital staff of neighborhood and visiting girls, and boys too. From the time I was 8 until well into my teens I played this part. The attending physicians ranged in age from 4 to 16 at least...I remember being very careful to present myself in a variety of comely ways, seeking out nice undergarments and, every now and then perfumes."



In addition to sending wildly inappropriate letters, Wilkes arranges to meet Juniper in Atlantic City, to advance the African-American history project. There Wilkes insists they play board games, go on carnival rides, cook in their room, and play Twister.

Other individuals who appear in the book include:

➤➤ Juniper's sister Reba McCloud - a sweet soul who's trying to help her brother;



➤➤ An author called Septic, who's hawking a book called 'Class Ass' - a tell-all about her life as a pimp and prostitute. Septic describes acting in and directing porn (adult and child); committing robbery and assault; selling and taking drugs; and more.



➤➤ A Simon & Schuster senior editor named Ralph Vendetti - a Mafia type in charge of cookbooks, self-help books, true crime, unauthorized biographies, and diet books. One diet book is the 'Butter Bliss Diet', based on eating ice cream, milk, yogurt, butter, cheese, bread, sweets, and fried foods - and avoiding vegetables.



At one point, a rival editor sends Vendetti a letter calling Vendetti's mother a slut and saying vile things like, "You aren't worth a pile of cowshit as an editor....That's why they give you all those books aimed at fairies and stupid women....and the ones on pimps and whores....I may just run you down with my car. I'd have to go back over you thirty times to get all the glop out of your fat body." The letter has dire repercussions.

There's much more hilarity in the story, which I enjoyed. I can imagine authors Everett and Kincaid laughing themselves silly while penning the narrative.



I highly recommend the book (though MAGA fans might not be the intended audience).

I had access to the digital book and the audiobook, narrated by James Fouhey, who does a fabulous job with the voices. You'll want to follow along in the text though, to keep up with the story.

Thanks to Netgalley, Percival Everett, James Kincaid, and Akashic Books for an ARC of the novel.

Rating: 4 stars