Erasure | Percival Everett

Percival Everett refuses to play by the rules and his writing is always deeply original, challenging, funny, satirical and an unforgettable experience. In Erasure, Everett tackles themes of racism and representation, particularly in the publishing industry. He utilizes a level of sarcasm and dark humour that few authors would dare to attempt, and by doing so he dismantles stereotypes with biting irony: forcing the reader to question their own assumptions.

Thelonius "Monk" Ellison is the novel's protagonist. He's Black a writer whose work is not considered "Black enough" by the literary establishment - a label that Everett himself clearly has a strong opinion on. Through Monk's character, Everett exposes the absurdity of reducing identity to marketable clichés and asks the question what does not Black enough even mean?  

Fans of The Trees and James will find Erasure just as layered and intelligent, though possibly slightly denser. If The Trees was Everett's take on historical trauma, then Erasure is his razor-sharp dissection of cultural tokenism and the search for authenticity in all the wrong places.

Percival Everett has become one of my favourite authors - I plan to dedicate a whole shelf just to his books! There's no writer quite like him: super clever without pretension, razor-sharp with without cruelty and always challenging what literature can say.