☝️ Percival Everett's number one fan

Plus: a look back at Mister Kelly's. [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( Daily Reader | March 26, 2024 I was a little late to the party, so to speak, in celebrating the work of Percival Everett. Everett is best known as the author of [Erasure]( the novel upon which the movie [American Fiction]( is based. About three years ago, when Everett was already almost 30 years into a glorious writing career, I stumbled on a passing reference to [The Trees]( then his latest novel. Immediately, I went to the library to check it out. But there was a waiting list, so I randomly took one of his other books from the shelf, having no idea what it was about. Just, you know, to get a sense of his style. It was [Half An Inch of Water]( a collection of haunting short stories set in the West and filled with cowboys, ranchers, and Native Americans. Reminded me of John Steinbeck. I thought, “Oh, this writer specializes in westerns.” Then I got around to reading The Trees which is nothing like John Steinbeck. It’s a zombie story, in which the zombies are Black people (like Emmett Till) seeking vengeance against their white lynchers. It was frightening and funny, especially the dialogue. It read like an Octavia Butler novel turned into a movie by Quentin Tarantino. After that I was hooked. Either buying or checking out one Everett book after another. And I realized that there is no quintessential Everett style or subject. He has a command for everything. I suppose my favorite is [Dr. No]( which is written from the point of view of a brilliant (though slightly deranged) mathematician who has dedicated his career to nothing. That is: he dedicated his career to the mathematical concept of nothingness (as opposed to “nothing” itself). A distinction that’s the subject of endless wisecracks in Dr. No. Add Groucho Marx to the list of people who’ve influenced Percival Everett. Dr. No had me looking up various concepts, theorems, and mathematicians that Everett referred to in the text. It was overwhelming. I ask you, how can one novelist know so much about mathematics? On top of zombies, the West, and Emmett Till? I should say now that Dr. No was my favorite Percival Everett novel. It’s been recently replaced by [James]( his latest, a work of genius I can’t stop talking about. As you probably heard, James is essentially a retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the perspective of Jim, the runaway slave in the classic novel. But James is much more than that. Before he’s finished, Everett’s given a treatise on slavery, literature, race relations, the Mississippi River, minstrel music, language, and irony. Especially irony. You might say James does for irony what Dr. No does for nothing. (Please excuse my feeble attempt to make a Percival Everette-type joke.) People have asked me: must you read Huck Finn to appreciate James? That’s a tough question. On one level, if you truly want to really appreciate James as the turn-the-literary-world-upside-down novel that it is, then, yes, you must read Huck Finn. On the other hand, James more than stands on its own as a darkly funny and stirring adventure story. So read it with or without Huck Finn—just read it! Please keep them coming, Percival Everett. You keep writing these great comic novels and that annual award Kevin Hart recently won for American humor will be named for you—not that other writer. [Logo with text: The Ben Joravsky Show. Features man wearing a cap and headphones, and Chicago flag stars.]( 🎙 [Listen to The Ben Joravsky Show]( 🎙 ◈ Percival Everett: [I Am Not Sidney Poitier]( ◈ Percival Everett: [A History of the African-American People (proposed) by Strom Thurmond, as told to Percival Everett and James Kincaid]( Mark Twain: [Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]( ◈ Illinois State Senate 20th District candidate [Graciela Guzmán]( on how she won the Democratic Primary ◈ Block Club Chicago investigative reporter [Rachel Hinton]( on the week that was ◈ Journalist [Monroe Anderson]( on why so few voted in last week’s election [a woman in costume standing next to a robot]( [C2E2 brings nerds of all kinds to McCormick Place]( April’s Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo creates space for enthusiasm. by [Charli Renken]( | [Read more]( → [A Lifeline to great storytelling]( The 42-year-old Rogers Park theater company adapts to the times. by [Kerry Reid]( | [Read more]( → [How artists and architecture shape Ionit Behar’s curatorial vision]( The DePaul Art Museum curator punctuates her exhibitions with a comma rather than a period. by [Ally Fouts]( | [Read more]( → [At PO Box, a group show centers the ties that bind global communities]( Four local artists bring the genocide in Palestine into our collective psyche. by [Wendy Wei]( | [Read more]( → [Mister Kelly’s is back in the limelight]( March 2021 | The crown jewel of Chicago nightclubs lives on at the Newberry Library and in an upcoming documentary. by [Kerry Reid]( | [Read more]( → Celebrate the Best of Chicago! [TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!]( Get the latest issue of the Chicago Reader Thursday, March 21, 2024 [READ ONLINE: VOL. 53, NO. 12]( [VIEW/DOWNLOAD ISSUE (PDF)]( [Become a member of the Chicago Reader.]( [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Website icon]( [YouTube icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [Logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! [Sign up for emails from the Chicago Reader]( | [Forward this e-mail to a friend]( © 2024 Chicago Reader. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616