The National Book Award for fiction was given to Percival Everett on Wednesday for his new book James, which is a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the viewpoint of Huck’s enslaved friend.
James turns the traditional Mark Twain work on its head by delving into Jim’s inner experiences of the adventures, his ideas on racism, and his actions when white people weren’t there.
Everett discussed the significance of books and how they can unite people in trying times in his acceptance speech on Wednesday. In reference to the outcome of the presidential election, I was feeling quite depressed two weeks ago, and to be honest, I still feel that way. I must admit that I feel a glimmer of hope when I gaze out at all the enthusiasm for literature.
Everett, who has written extensively about race in America, told the BBC earlier this year that he got the idea for James while playing tennis. I paused and wondered if anyone had ever written Huck Finn from Jim’s perspective. He remembered.
When Jim finds out he’s going to be sold to a new owner, he goes on the run in the original story. Although the character in Twain’s version doesn’t talk, Everett gives him a voice and portrays him as a clever, literate guy who is aware of how racism affects his life and the actions he must do to live. Everett’s rendition has been hailed by critics as a masterful work of sly humor.
The 67-year-old author, who has scores of books and short tales to his credit, has received numerous honors, the most recent of which is the National Book Award. James and his 2022 book The Trees were both on the Booker Prize shortlist this year. His book Telephone, published in 2020, was a 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist.
In 2023, Jeffrey Wright starred in the film American Fiction, which was based on one of Everett’s novels, Erasure.
Jason De Len’s Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling won a nonfiction prize from the National Book Foundation. Black Classic Press founder W. Paul Coates and author Barbara Kingsolver received lifetime achievement honors.
Because his publisher had reproduced The Jewish Onslaught, an essay that has been deemed antisemitic, critics have denounced the choice to honor Coates. Ruth Dickey, executive director of the National Book Foundation, responded by stating that Coates was being recognized for his body of work rather than any one item.
The foundation supports free speech but opposes racism and anti-Semitism, she continued.
According to WTOP, she added, “Anyone looking at the work of any publisher over the course of almost five decades will find individual works or opinions with which they disagree or find offensive.”
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