Monday 19 December 2016

THE SELLOUT // PAUL BEATTY


How many times have I promised that this review will be arriving soon...well drumroll please: it is finally here!

This the Man Booker prize winner for 2016 which means it can kind of go a few ways: be an amazing piece of literary genius; be totally over hyped and disappointing; or be totally highbrow and fly right over my head.


Luckily for me it wasn't the latter as that would be rather embarrassing.

The book is a first person narrative from the point of view of Me you never find out his first name just his surname.  It is a satire of America and the reality of racial equality.  

The plot is based in Dickens a "ghetto" community on the outskirts of L,os Angeles which loses its identity and recognition due to the increasing gentrification of the area.  

The main plot is the Supreme Court case about the owning of a slave and the apparent resegregation of a high school.  However this in the end does not seem to lead the narrative, rather the characters and their own stories seem to take centre stage.  

The book is witty and full of ironies that cause the stereotypes that are so well known to become laughable..  It is full of one liners and quips that kept me interested despite there being no real driving force in the plot.  

It is clever and the reactions of people in the book highlight that maybe the way "equality" is seen does not lead to greater "equality".  Maybe it is all about perspective, judgements and this is due to the books outrageous but hilarious and profound story telling and statements.

Would I recommend it?

Definitely in my opinion it fulfils the first category of a Man Booker prize winner: an amazing piece of literary genius.

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