'The Sellout' by Paul Beatty is a satirical novel that challenges societal norms and explores themes of race, belonging, and identity through the lens of a protagonist seeking to reinstitute segregation and slavery in his community. Set in an agrarian community in Los Angeles, the book delves into African American politics, using humor and irreverence to confront uncomfortable truths about racism in America. The novel features a unique writing style that blends biting satire, clever imagery, and provocative language to deliver a thought-provoking narrative that pushes readers to question societal conventions.

Characters:

Characters are vividly drawn and exaggerated, used to explore complex themes of race, identity, and social norms.

Writing/Prose:

The writing is characterized by its clever, humorous, and often absurd prose filled with cultural references and wordplay.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot centers around the protagonist, Me, who attempts to revitalize his erased hometown of Dickens by reintroducing segregation and slavery, ultimately leading him to a Supreme Court trial.

Setting:

The setting is crucial, located in a fictional, marginalized neighborhood in Los Angeles, reflecting broader societal issues.

Pacing:

The pacing fluctuates, creating a mix of rapid humor and slower, reflective passages that may challenge readers.

I suppose that’s exactly the problem—I wasn’t raised to know any better. My father was (Carl Jung, rest his soul) a social scientist of some renown. As the founder and, to my knowledge, sole practitio...

Notes:

The Sellout won the Man Booker Prize in 2016 and was the first American book to do so after the prize opened to all English language books.

The novel is set in a fictional Black neighborhood called Dickens, which has been erased from the map of Los Angeles.

The protagonist, known as 'Me', is raised by a controversial sociologist father who subjects him to various social experiments.

Me inherits a farm after his father's death, leading him to engage in bizarre social experiments, including resegregating his community.

The story navigates themes of race and identity, exploring what it means to be Black in a supposedly post-racial America.

Beatty's use of humor is often dark, forcing readers to confront uncomfortable realities about race relations in the United States.

The novel employs a satirical approach, mixing absurdity with serious themes around racism and privilege.

Characters include Hominy Jenkins, a former child actor from The Little Rascals, who becomes Me's self-appointed slave.

The narrative style is dense and packed with cultural references, puns, and wordplay, contributing to both its humor and complexity.

The book often critiques liberal attempts at addressing racism, suggesting that they can be ineffective or superficial.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings for The Sellout include racial slurs, themes of slavery, police violence, and elements of satire that may offend.

From The Publisher:

Winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize

Winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction

Named one of the best books of 2015 by The New York Times Book Review and the Wall Street Journal

A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court, Paul Beatty's The Sellout showcases a comic genius at the top of his game. It challenges the sacred tenets of the United States Constitution, urban life, the civil rights movement, the father-son relationship, and the holy grail of racial equality-the black Chinese restaurant.

Born in the "agrarian ghetto" of Dickens-on the southern outskirts of Los Angeles-the narrator of The Sellout resigns himself to the fate of lower-middle-class Californians: "I'd die in the same bedroom I'd grown up in, looking up at the cracks in the stucco ceiling that've been there since '68 quake." Raised by a single father, a controversial sociologist, he spent his childhood as the subject in racially charged psychological studies. He is led to believe that his father's pioneering work will result in a memoir that will solve his family's financial woes. But when his father is killed in a police shoot-out, he realizes there never was a memoir. All that's left is the bill for a drive-thru funeral.

Fuelled by this deceit and the general disrepair of his hometown, the narrator sets out to right another wrong: Dickens has literally been removed from the map to save California from further embarrassment. Enlisting the help of the town's most famous resident-the last surviving Little Rascal, Hominy Jenkins-he initiates the most outrageous action conceivable: reinstating slavery and segregating the local high school, which lands him in the Supreme Court.

Ratings (12)

Incredible (1)
Loved It (5)
Liked It (2)
It Was OK (1)
Did Not Like (2)
Hated It (1)

Reader Stats (40):

Read It (12)
Currently Reading (1)
Want To Read (22)
Did Not Finish (1)
Not Interested (4)

2 comment(s)

ColorfulLeo92

Did Not Like

6 days

I'm sorry to say I didn't get it. Some parts yes but this was a miss for me. Maybe it was to satirical?

Pallavi

Hated It

3 months

****1.0****

It would be wrong for me to rate/review such an acclaimed book. I DNF'd it after some 70%.

Fault is not with the book but with me. I couldn't take it anymore nor did I find it funny. It was sad book and just felt depressed. Reading about people broken in several ways just makes me feel more pathetic.

Sorry Sellout , you have too much of reality!!

“My father had a theory that poor people are the best drivers because they can’t afford to carry car insurance and have to drive like they live, defensively.”

Happy Reading!!!

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About the Author:

Paul Beatty is the author of the novels Slumberland, Tuff, and The White Boy Shuffle-and the books of poetry: Big Bank Take Little Bank and Joker, Joker, Deuce. He is the editor of Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor. In 2016, he became the first American to win the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sellout. In 2017, he was the winner the American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award. He lives in New York City.

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The Sellout

Paul Beatty