https://shawjonathan.com/2023/05/04/the-book-group-and-percival-everetts-trees/ ( )

This book started out as a five star read for me. The first quarter was extremely funny - - just the blackest of black humor, and I was appreciating it.

Set in Mississippi, the story follows a series of murders where a white man (or men) is found dead alongside a similarly deceased black man. The black man is holding the balls of the white man in his hands in each case. Initially, this scenario is pretty provocative and suspenseful. We get scenes of the bumbling police force trying to deal with the murders, and Everett definitely knows how to land a witty punch.

Unfortunately, for me, the book loses momentum quickly as the murders begin to spread countrywide following the exact same pattern.

What starts as a very ballsy, fresh approach to relating the history of lynching in this country ends in a mushy, unresolved finale. Frankly, as a reader, two of my least favorite things are satire and magical realism, and this book has both. I didn't see it going there in the first quarter, but it most definitely did . . .and what could have been an incredible piece of social commentary just ended up falling flat. ( )

As always, Percival Everett contrives to have the reader doubled up with laughter whilst punching them heavily in the solar plexus. A riotous menagerie of characters, but deadly serious content. In Money, Mississippi, and its satellite town, Small Change, murders are occurring, and the white murderees are relatives of those responsible for the lynching of Emmett Till. Each murder is accompanied by the corpse of a long dead Black man. A corpse that keeps disappearing ..

To say more would be to spoil it; this isn't a long book. Read, enjoy and ponder truths about the history of lynching ( )

Rating: 6.77 stars

"A Jack of All Genre, and Master of all..and then some" is about the ONLY way to describe Percival Everett

This being the eighth book I feel I've earned the right to state he's incredible. Authors that engage readers using carefully thought out characters and plots that break genre takes skill. Add to that uncanny sense of pacing and humor, encyclopedic knowledge and ability to switch POV's in an instant, he truly stands alone. And being black, all his others used race lightly; but with "The Trees" he's gone full steam ahead (N-word included)

We begin in Money, MS with a gory murder of a local white man along side a dead black man gripping what appears to be the victim's testicles. A redneck sheriff and his deputy are stumped; when word gets out a couple of black MBI agents arrive to investigate. Being the deep south, this becomes the first hypocrisy of many.

It's important to understand that Professor Everett isn't a mystery author; in fact, he refuses to stick with any genre making him unique, to say the least. The ONLY common denominator are unique character names, insights, plots themes and engagement. And for that I'm deeply grateful.

Written in third person POV, chapters are at most 5 pages, with the majority under 3 using concise, yet evocative language. This could be termed 'page turner' but using the term does the book injustice.

Driven by a 'get even for ancient lynchings theme', he adds tongue in cheek humor and copy cat murders across the country that triggers interest from government law enforcement and the national press. As one would imagine the racial nature causes a MS Klan group to resurface who decide on a cross burning to no avail. Stranger still, the dead black man from the first murder disappears from the M.E. office and reappears at the scene of other murders. But Everett doesn't stop there..no, no, no. As momentum grows, he adds Asians to the mix which spurns interest from the White House.

I'm not a fan of spoilers or going into detail about story since it ruins the experience for readers. What I will add is a surprise that comes toward the end during a session in the Oval office. Put simply this is an outstanding, well conceived, masterfully laid out story from one of the best 'under the radar' authors in publishing. For the countless number of mystery fans in my network, you've yet to read anything like this! ( )

10. The Trees by Percival Everett
published: 2021
format: 310-page Kindle ebook
acquired: February 6 read: Feb 6-8 time reading: 6:32, 1.3 mpp
rating: 4
genre/style: Contemporary Fiction theme: Booker 2022
locations: Mississippi
about the author: American writer and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. Born in Fort Gordon, Georgia in 1956.

My tenth on the Booker 2022 long list. I'm afraid this review is largely a spoiler of sorts.

This really threw me. I started knowing only that it's on the 2022 Booker longlist and gets a lot praise. I didn't imagine a fast-paced seriously gruesome and funny murder mystery. I kept wondering if I had the right book. And then I'm speeding along, enjoying the stories of the dying white racists in rural Mississippi, found with their balls torn off, and the incompetent investigation. Then Emmett Till comes up. That's not fun, funny or any of those adjectives. The book doesn't change tone. What to make of this? It's fun and I think I was supposed to enjoy that; but also it's serious in a not-fun way, and it carries on. I actually struggled with that, not knowing which emotion I should carry as a reader. Isn't that a weird comment? Anyway, it has some impact on us readers. And it definitely encouraged me to think about reading more by Everett.

2023
https://www.librarything.com/topic/348551#8072943 ( )