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A review by micareads123
Erasure by Percival Everett
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I absolutely love Everett’s writing style in this book.
The story is satire meets family drama and follows Thelonious Ellison, who is an author frustrated over the declining quality of published books. In response, he writes his own poor-quality book, which finds disappointingly great success. At the same time, he is caring for his mother, whose Alzheimer’s grows progressively worse over the course of the novel.
The messaging in this book about family values is beautifully done, and the plot offers a lot of food for thought about what is considered great literature these days and about how blindly supporting art in the name of inclusivity can be harmful, even amounting to racism. And I think the ending was perfect.
However, while the book has a certain self-awareness, it does still manage to come off as being a touch pretentious.
The story is satire meets family drama and follows Thelonious Ellison, who is an author frustrated over the declining quality of published books. In response, he writes his own poor-quality book, which finds disappointingly great success. At the same time, he is caring for his mother, whose Alzheimer’s grows progressively worse over the course of the novel.
The messaging in this book about family values is beautifully done, and the plot offers a lot of food for thought about what is considered great literature these days and about how blindly supporting art in the name of inclusivity can be harmful, even amounting to racism. And I think the ending was perfect.
However, while the book has a certain self-awareness, it does still manage to come off as being a touch pretentious.