James: A Novel (Unabridged)
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4.4 • 832 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • KIRKUS PRIZE WINNER • A LOS ANGELES TIMES BEST FICTION BOOK OF THE LAST 30 YEARS
In development as a feature film to be produced by Steven Spielberg • A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times Book Review, LA Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, TIME, and more.
"Genius"—The Atlantic • "A masterpiece that will help redefine one of the classics of American literature, while also being a major achievement on its own."—Chicago Tribune • "A provocative, enlightening literary work of art."—The Boston Globe • "Everett’s most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful."—The New York Times
When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.
Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim’s agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Percival Everett (whose novel Erasure became the hit film American Fiction) takes a big swing with James—and he knocks it out of the park. In this recasting of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, the familiar journey down the Mississippi is told by the teen’s partner: Jim, a Black man who has escaped from enslavement (and he prefers to be called James, if you don’t mind). Everett takes the opportunity to reimagine Black life in the antebellum South in much the same way Colson Whitehead does in The Underground Railroad. Here, enslaved Black people are well educated and only slip into the exaggerated dialect Twain gave his Black characters when white people might be listening. That sounds like it might come off awkwardly in audio, but narrator Dominic Hoffman handles it as brilliantly as Everett does. Even if you haven’t read Huckleberry Finn since your high school English class (or ever!), James is a thrilling, funny adventure and a thoughtful commentary on how Black men are depicted in American literature.
Customer Reviews
James
I enjoyed the story but was expecting that it would precisely parallel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which it did not in the latter half. The reader was excellent.
Literary perfection
A masterwork. The layers and depth in this retelling are staggering. Everett doesn’t just reimagine Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective; he constructs an entirely new universe of meaning that somehow feels both inevitable and revolutionary. Every chapter peels back another layer of brilliance - the way James code-switches between dialects, the philosophical underpinnings of freedom and identity, the quiet rage and profound humanity that pulses beneath every word.
The narration is flawless, bringing nuance to Everett’s already complex characterization. James emerges not as a victim or a saint, but as a fully realized human being whose intelligence, wit, and moral clarity shine through the historical horror surrounding him. The book manages to be heartbreaking and hopeful, brutal and beautiful, often within the same paragraph.
This isn’t just a great audiobook - it’s essential literature that will stay with you long after the final sentence.
James
Captivating