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| Author | Percival Everett |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | UPNE |
Publication date | 2001 |
| ISBN | 9781584651604 |
Erasure is a 2001 novel by American writer Percival Everett. It was originally published by UPNE. The novel reacts against the dominant strains of discussion related to the publication and criticism of African-American literature.
In 2023, it was adapted by Cord Jefferson as a film titled American Fiction, starring Jeffrey Wright.[1]
Plot
Erasure is about a writer dealing with growing old, death, and murder. The novel's plot revolves around the consequences of turning one's art into a commodity; i.e. giving in to market forces. The market force within Erasure mirrors the late-1990s reality of the publishing industry seeming to pigeon hole Black writers by valuing accounts of dysfunctional urban poor over other Black lives.
Everett explores race, class, loyalty to family, sex, the theory of language, the life of canonical western artists, abortion, and sexual identity as the novel unfolds.
The protagonist, Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, a professor of English literature, is in a rut with his writing. His agent repeatedly explains to him that publishing houses don't believe his writing to be "black enough". Ellison is confronted with the success of a novel called We's Lives In Da Ghetto, by black writer Juanita Mae Jenkins; it is becoming a national best seller and she is a critical darling.
Monk quickly composes a satirical response based in part on Richard Wright's Native Son (1940) and Sapphire's Push (1996). He entitles his own novel My Pafology before changing it to Fuck.
This novel is published in its entirety within Erasure and creates a meta-narrative that challenges the reader about the value and merits of this writing in contrast to the supposedly more erudite text and characters of Erasure.
Structure
Like many of Everett's novels, Erasure is experimental in structure. It uses multiple embedded narratives, written by the main character Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, including his mock-novel titled My Pafology.
The Guardian review described the book as a "skilful, extended parody of ghetto novels such as Sapphire's Push."[2]
The novel has other narrative styles within the larger narrative frame, including an academic paper, personal letters, story ideas, and imagined dialogue between fictionalized historical characters. The final section is the end of Erasure as written by Stagg R Leigh, Monk's alter ego.
Reception
The novel was well received. Darryl Pinckney's review in The Guardian focused on the dark comedy that Erasure represents, describing it as moving towards "bleakest comedy" and "sly work."[2] Ready Steady Book focused on the novel being "full of anger" about the African American literary establishment. It says the most redeeming elements of the plot come from a "moving portrait of a son coming to terms with his mother's life."[3]
Film adaptation
In 2023, the novel was adapted as a film titled American Fiction, written and directed by Cord Jefferson.[1] The film won the Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival that year.[4] In December 2023 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced shortlists for the 96th Oscars ceremony. American Fiction was included in the Best Original Score category.[5]
References
- 1 2 Willmore, Alison (September 10, 2023). "We're Going to Be Talking About This Book-World Satire All Fall". Vulture.
- 1 2 Pinckney, Darryl (April 18, 2003). "Colour bind". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
- ↑ Tripney, Natasha (February 5, 2010). "Erasure by Percival Everett". Ready Steady Book.
- ↑ Pulver, Andrew (September 18, 2023). "Literary satire American Fiction takes Toronto film festival's top award". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ↑ "96TH OSCARS® SHORTLISTS IN 10 AWARD CATEGORIES ANNOUNCED". press.oscars.org. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
Further reading
- Russett, Margaret (2005). "Race Under Erasure". Callaloo. 28 (2): 358–368. doi:10.1353/cal.2005.0059. ISSN 1080-6512. S2CID 162296410. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
- Eaton, Kimberly (2006). "Deconstructing the Narrative: Language, Genre, and Experience in Erasure" (PDF). Nebula. 3 (2/3): 220–232.
- Moynihan, Sinead. "Living Parchments, Human Documents: Racial Identity and Authorship in Percival Everett's Erasure and Hannah Crafts' The Bondwoman". Engaging Tradition, Making It New: Essays on Teaching Recent African American Literature. pp. 103–21.