Julian Lucas

Whether it's his novel, I Am Not Sidney Poitier, about a character who ends up stuck in the plot of basically every Sidney Poitier movie, or Erasure, about a black novelist so frustrated by the pigeonholing in the publishing industry that he writes an elaborate literary prank under a pseudonym.

Whether it's his novel, I Am Not Sidney Poitier, about a character who ends up stuck in the plot of basically every Sidney Poitier movie, or Erasure, about a black novelist so frustrated by the pigeonholing in the publishing industry that he writes an elaborate literary prank under a pseudonym.

Whether it's his novel, I Am Not Sidney Poitier, about a character who ends up stuck in the plot of basically every Sidney Poitier movie, or Erasure, about a black novelist so frustrated by the pigeonholing in the publishing industry that he writes an elaborate literary prank under a pseudonym.

To read Percival Everett is always to grapple with the prejudices and the assumptions and the acts of imagination that we have to make in communicating with one another through fiction and through art. And so when I saw that he was rewriting Huckleberry Finn...

To read Percival Everett is always to grapple with the prejudices and the assumptions and the acts of imagination that we have to make in communicating with one another through fiction and through art. And so when I saw that he was rewriting Huckleberry Finn...

To read Percival Everett is always to grapple with the prejudices and the assumptions and the acts of imagination that we have to make in communicating with one another through fiction and through art. And so when I saw that he was rewriting Huckleberry Finn...

I knew that it would be an opportunity not just to read a great narrative, but also to read along with him one of the foundational stories in the American narrative.

I knew that it would be an opportunity not just to read a great narrative, but also to read along with him one of the foundational stories in the American narrative.

I knew that it would be an opportunity not just to read a great narrative, but also to read along with him one of the foundational stories in the American narrative.

So I love how this novel begins. I mean, first of all, the title, because in Twain, we know this character as Jim, or, you know, sometimes as more derogatory epithets, but immediately he's announced as James. And the reframing you do is just so clear in the very first sentence. And I wonder if you could read for us the first page of the novel. Okay. See if I can get close here.

So I love how this novel begins. I mean, first of all, the title, because in Twain, we know this character as Jim, or, you know, sometimes as more derogatory epithets, but immediately he's announced as James. And the reframing you do is just so clear in the very first sentence. And I wonder if you could read for us the first page of the novel. Okay. See if I can get close here.

So I love how this novel begins. I mean, first of all, the title, because in Twain, we know this character as Jim, or, you know, sometimes as more derogatory epithets, but immediately he's announced as James. And the reframing you do is just so clear in the very first sentence. And I wonder if you could read for us the first page of the novel. Okay. See if I can get close here.

What I love about this is you take a scene that in Twain is a kind of fun prank played by these two boys. And you immediately make us see it from the bitter, exhausted perspective of a grown man who has to play along with these children's games essentially because he's a slave. And you hear it immediately in those little bastards. How did you arrive at this voice for Jim?

What I love about this is you take a scene that in Twain is a kind of fun prank played by these two boys. And you immediately make us see it from the bitter, exhausted perspective of a grown man who has to play along with these children's games essentially because he's a slave. And you hear it immediately in those little bastards. How did you arrive at this voice for Jim?

What I love about this is you take a scene that in Twain is a kind of fun prank played by these two boys. And you immediately make us see it from the bitter, exhausted perspective of a grown man who has to play along with these children's games essentially because he's a slave. And you hear it immediately in those little bastards. How did you arrive at this voice for Jim?

I love that. It's almost a river-like reading experience. You keep going back to the beginning. And I know you have a very high opinion of nonsense and have written essays on it. Did you stop enjoying it after a while? I was sick of it. Did it affect your... Yes, I was sick of it. I wanted to be sick of it. How many readings did it take to get sick of it?

I love that. It's almost a river-like reading experience. You keep going back to the beginning. And I know you have a very high opinion of nonsense and have written essays on it. Did you stop enjoying it after a while? I was sick of it. Did it affect your... Yes, I was sick of it. I wanted to be sick of it. How many readings did it take to get sick of it?

I love that. It's almost a river-like reading experience. You keep going back to the beginning. And I know you have a very high opinion of nonsense and have written essays on it. Did you stop enjoying it after a while? I was sick of it. Did it affect your... Yes, I was sick of it. I wanted to be sick of it. How many readings did it take to get sick of it?

Do you feel like it's a voice that you found in the book? I mean, you know, when Jim talks to Huck in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he's usually calling him Child and Honey and all these sweet affectionate names. Was there a kernel of the character you created sort of hidden in Twain's character, or did you kind of have to invent him whole cloth?

Do you feel like it's a voice that you found in the book? I mean, you know, when Jim talks to Huck in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he's usually calling him Child and Honey and all these sweet affectionate names. Was there a kernel of the character you created sort of hidden in Twain's character, or did you kind of have to invent him whole cloth?