Dear Bookclub,
Martha's round table held steady and even as we negotiated Percival Everett's novel "James". Huck and Jim, however, were roiled by their Mississippi negotiations as Everett satirically portrayed his re-imagined version of Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". We loved it.
Everett's art: language, social commentary and historic truths bundled into a package we will long hold as a high standard of a truly great work. Both the audible and the written word vine together to form a stunning literary masterpiece.
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| Tracy Nguyen for The New Yorker |
Everett's talents beyond his writing include being an accomplished abstract painter, a jazz guitarist, a horse trainer, a tracker, and a cowboy. He and his wife, Danzy Senna, are professors at USC.
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| Danzy Senna |
Danzy sent me into a maze of googling. I can only imagine the workings of this relationship as she has an amazing trail. I read her memoir, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" about her parents' mixed-race marriage and am intrigued by her fiction. I will not subject you to the hours of threads I have followed but I will share this entertaining, short and illuminating interview of Everett with Seth Myers (you will not be disappointed):
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZMabgZZtZc |
Finally, my quest to find out how Percival and Danzy met, yielded a lengthy piece (pre-"James") from Project Muse: "An Overview of Everett's Life and Career" by Derek Maus. I did not learn a thing about their meeting. Please enjoy perusing:
https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/244/oa_monograph/chapter/2283518
Martha's selections for an upcoming read:
'Lady Tan's Circle of Women" Lisa See
"Leave Only Footprints" Conor Knighton
"Tell Me Everything" Elizabeth Strout *chosen
**** Alert **** We decided to flip May and June suggestions so we will have a breezier read for our La Jolla Anniversary Trip.
Up next:
LK
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