AMERICAN AUTHORS CHALLENGE--AUGUST 2023--PERCIVAL EVERETT

Every once in a while time runs out on me, the current author is completely unknown to me, and my inclination toward research is at a weak low, all at the same time. Sadly, Percival Everett has fallen victim to that unfortunate combination of circumstances, and this introduction won't do him justice. Personal biographical information is thin on the ground, but I did find this site, which has a fair amount of information on Everett and his work. He is experimental, prolific, satirical, and Considered Important. The words "absurd" and "outlandish" have also been used. He is emphatically not Sidney Poitier, and his 2022 novel, Dr. No, is presumably not about James Bond. He was recommended with enthusiasm by at least two of our regulars here, and I hope to find the mental energy to accept his challenge before the month is out. If you've read him already, please feel free to start talking... If not, what are your plans?

For the Challenge, I read two of his books:

Telephone delivered a lot of intriguing geology and for that and his writing would rate 5 stars;
yet for the haunting decline of a child with an incurable disease, down to 3 stars...

Erasure was a fine 4 star Review with a recommendation to find your Thelonius Monk records,
along with my favorite quote - "It is incredible that a sentence is ever understood."

As my local library has exactly one of Everett's books, I will be reading So Much Blue for the challenge this month.

Two words only : The Trees.

I am planning on reading The Trees.

>4 PaulCranswick: >5 Kristelh: Me, three, for The Trees!

Karen O

I read The Trees last year, which was dark, good and thought provoking. I discovered I had Erasure on the shelf, so will read that this month.

New to the group and to LibraryThing so hello everyone. I have read The Trees and was a little taken aback by it - in a good way - so knew sort of what to expect with Dr No. I love the word play in that one. I will read So Much Blue once I have got hold of a copy.

>8 allthegoodbooks: Welcome to LibraryThing, and to the AAC! I'm glad to hear more positive reactions to Percival Everett's work. BTW, if you put square brackets around titles, the site will create a link to the work page for that book. There are lots of neat little tricks like that here. Have fun exploring.

Your images in >1 laytonwoman3rd: have disappeared, I've noticed that happening a few times lately Linda.

>10 Caroline_McElwee: That has to be a LibraryThing glitch. I'm loading them from my gallery/junk drawer on the site, as I have for a long time now. Don't know why they are disappearing, but it may be related to this message the admins posted on the LT Facebook page today: "Attention Thingamabrarians and Littens: LibraryThing and Litsy have been experiencing an outage impacting loading of some web content, including cover images, over the night and into this morning. The issue should be mostly resolved on the web and LibraryThing app, but we are still working on the Litsy app. Stay tuned for updates, and please reach out to us at info@librarything.com or litsy@librarything.com with specific concerns." I re-loaded them and now they are back.

>11 laytonwoman3rd: Weird glitch that only took out selected images I noticed.

I have just started Erasure. So far so good.

>12 Caroline_McElwee: There's a technical discussion of it on one of the Bug Collector threads, but it sort of lost me.

>13 Caroline_McElwee: I just started So Much Blue last night and 50 pages in, I am very much enjoying Everett's writing. I have a copy of The Trees on its way to me, but I am not sure that I will get to it this month.

>9 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for the clue about the title. I have much to learn about this site and looking forward to reading the book. Not that easy to get here in the UK.

Unfortunately Erasure is DNF for me at p76, despite its 4.5 stars for others. I suspect if I powered through I'd be saying 'Clever, but I got no pleasure from this', not to mention, but I will, several pages of a 'Paper' the narrator reads at an event, that was totally Greek to me. Didn't understand a word of it.

As I thought The Trees fine, it won't put me off giving PE another go sometime.

>16 allthegoodbooks: There is a lot to learn on the site, Joy, and some of it remains a mystery to me after 15+ years here! But you've found this group, and that's one of the best things about LT. I hope you can get your hands on So Much Blue. My library is a little short on offerings for Percival Everett too.

>17 Caroline_McElwee: I notice a lot of reviewers didn't care for that academic insert in the novel, Caroline. I'm going to get The Trees from the library later in the month, I hope.

I finished So Much Blue tonight and gave it 4 stars. I thought this multiple timeline novel was done very well. I am hoping that The Trees arrives in time for me to read it this month.

I started and finished So Much Blue in one day. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't like it quite as much as The Trees and Dr No but in the end I did. Not as much 'fun' but just as clever. 4 and a 1/2 stars from me. I think I might track down I am Not Sidney Poitier and read that one next.

I loved the structure of the book too and it is one of the few where I thought having three interweaving stories was critical to the storytelling and not just a way of telling a similar story separated by time. In this book they are separated by time but in one person's life and almost covers the three ages of man - or artist. They are linked and important in other ways too but I don't want to add any spoilers in case someone else here is going to read it.

>20 allthegoodbooks: I agree with "it is one of the few where I thought having three interweaving stories was critical to the storytelling and not just a way of telling a similar story separated by time." That definitely added to the story and helped give the book definition. I am glad to see that you enjoyed it too, Joy!

Just found out how to write spoilers so, the ending of So Much Blue I really wanted the painting to be described with all the blues mentioned in the book and a few more. These can't be the only secrets he has kept. I suppose leaving it to my imagination is an author's right but I want to see it! I'm just wondering now whether there is a theme of 'seeing' in the book. Something to ponder on.

Starting The Trees tonight. . .

Finished The Trees, I liked it, I liked the first part better than the last part. I gave it a rating 4.6 stars as there were a couple things I did not like. He is a good author and I would read more by Percival Everett.

Just finished I am Not Sidney Poitier and really enjoyed it. This was my fourth book by him and I am starting to see much more clearly his interests and themes which run through the books. I suspect I should have read Erasure before this one because it fits nicely with the negative elements in I am Not Sidney Poitier and Dr No. 4 stars from me.

I finished The Trees today, though finished is not exactly the right word for a work that doesn't feel, well, finished.

I want to know what the small crosses were about - and why only 2 of them, how the body disappeared from the morgue the first time (was Dell involved?) and the second time (who? how?). Not to mention how you off some one in a small bathroom and don't get a drop of blood anywhere outside of it.

It's good to see people have been appreciating Everett's work, to varying degrees to be sure, but this was an author I thought might elicit less enthusiasm than I'm seeing here. Unfortunately I didn't find time to read any of his stuff (or much of anything else, actually) this month. Nevertheless, the comments here have been encouraging and I do intend to get to him in time. Thanks, people!

I'll try to get the September thread going later today. We'll be reading women who write/wrote about crime--fiction or non-fiction, as you wish.

>27 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you for introducing me to yet another author of whom I had never heard. The Trees was excellent and So Much Blue was very good!

>27 laytonwoman3rd:, Yes, I agree with >28 alcottacre: Stasia and enjoyed reading this author that I had never heard.

Wow! I've read three Percival Everett books now (God's Country, Dr. No: A Novel, and The Trees, and I've really liked all of them. I think it's because they all seem so fresh and inventive, and you can tell that Everett has taken his time with the writing.

For this challenge, I read The Trees. I'm still mulling over the book, with its spotlight on the culture of lynching and racism that has been America. But I will say that I enjoyed the sense of humor (although sometimes very dark), the gender equality displayed by the detectives involved, and the prompting for reader involvement in what was going on here. Even the format of the book, short chapters (sometimes very short!) made the pace quick and electric. Percival Everett was an excellent choice for the American Authors Challenge!

I know I'll be reading more Percival Everett in the future.

Karen O

I did read So Much Blue so got two books done by Mr Everett.

I took The Trees out of the library today---better late than never!

AND, the September thread is now live. Again, better....well, you know.

Interesting interview on CBS Sunday Morning with the women in the cast of "American Fiction", based on Everett's Erasure.

And again from CBS Sunday Morning, this piece where he gave a rare interview in conjunction with the release of his newest novel, James. And we all need to enter more copies of that work into LT, 'cause at the moment it has no touchstone--I had to force it. I hope to read this one very soon.

>34 laytonwoman3rd: Sometimes waiting 8 hrs or so is enough to get touchstones activated. Overnight has always worked for me.

>35 quondame: From what starting point?

>36 laytonwoman3rd: Usually sometime in the afternoon since I don't often spend time on LT in the mornings. Maybe it's midnight GMT Midnight or something? I think it's before EST Midnight.

>37 quondame: Sorry, I still don't understand what you mean by "waiting 8 hours or so". When I typed James I got a touchstone for a New Testament Commentary on the Book of James. I dropped down the "others" list, and Everett's new novel was not in it anywhere. So what are you suggesting I should have done next?

>38 laytonwoman3rd: I had to go through the list of titles twice but I did find it there: James

I misunderstood the issue. When I add a book no one else has entered before, it takes some hours before it shows up on the touchstone list. I believe "overnight" was officially mentioned, but it has sometimes worked a few hours later. But that is only I'm the #1 entry for that book.

>39 quondame: Ah...I had entered the book into my catalog when I pre-ordered it back in February, so I was puzzled as to what I would be changing that would trigger a touchstone. Got it now! And I do see that it appears in the list...waaaay down in the list....now. In any case, I'm looking forward to reading it!