James: A Novel

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing & ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. * From the "cult literary icon" (Oprah Daily), Pulitzer Prize Finalist, & one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime

1861, the Mississippi River. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife & daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous & transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive & too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States & beyond.

While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods & storms, stumbling across both unexpected death & unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river's banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke & Dauphin...), Jim's agency, intelligence & compassion are shown in a radically new light.

Brimming with the electrifying humor & lacerating observations that have made Everett a "cult literary icon" (Oprah Daily), & one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a major publishing event & a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.

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Percival Everett has been nominated for the Booker Prize twice – he was shortlisted for The Trees in 2022 & shortlisted for James in 2024 – & is the author of over 30 published works. His 2001 novel Erasure was adapted into the Oscar-nominated major motion picture, American Fiction. In 2021, he received the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Book Critics Circle Awards.