Black History Month: "James" by Percival Everett

Millhopper Book Club

In correlation with Black History Month, the Millhopper Book Club will be discussing "James" by Percival Everett.

James by Percival Everett, is a New York Times Bestseller and the National Book Award Winner for Fiction. A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.

"When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and 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 and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

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

The Millhopper Book Club meets the first Tuesday of each month. When we meet, we start by sharing books we’ve read recently, then discuss that month’s book. You do not have to read the book to attend the meeting.

Event Contact: Beth Noll, bnoll@aclib.us

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