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A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond, as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid (A Novel) (Akashic Urban Surreal)
 
 
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A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond, as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid (A Novel) (Akashic Urban Surreal) [Paperback]

Percival Everett (Author), James Kincaid (Author)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The mere broaching of the outrageous titular book proposal is enough to keep this hilarious high-concept satire humming along. Among the characters who try to make sense of it are the fey, omnisexual Tennessee Williamsish congressional aide proposing the book, who attempts to clarify things by suggesting that the Methuselan segregationist senator "is, properly understood, a black writer"; the fatuous Simon & Schuster editor who thinks such a project might make for a fashionably "hot" manuscript (but said editor doesn't have "enough holes in his bowling ball"); and the authors, inserting themselves into the novel as academic ghostwriters whose curiosity and greed overcome their revulsion at the idea. And then there's the slyly charming Thurmond himself, who's far from fully committed to the project, and cagily justifies his own racist record by throwing away the concepts of objective truth and personal responsibility as casually as he throws out homespun anecdotes ("You know, my brother Bill used to stutter something terrible. He couldn't say grace and have his food be hot"). The story's epistolary format allows novelist Everett and literary theorist Kincaid to write in a chorus of richly individuated voices, by turns-and often simultaneously-sardonic, hysterical, obsequious and threatening, aware of their own hypocrisies but unwilling to renounce them. The result is a truly funny sendup of the corrupt politics of academe, the publishing industry and politics, as well as a subtle but biting critique of racial ideology.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Among many other things, it’s a treasure of satiric humor. Don’t pass it up!" -- Clarence Major, author of Configurations

"Now [Everett’s] gone tagteam with James Kincaid, so expect more damage." -- James Sallis, author of Chester Himes: A Life
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 300 pages
  • Publisher: Akashic Books (April 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1888451572
  • ISBN-13: 978-1888451573
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #800,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Authors

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James R. Kincaid
James R. Kincaid
Percival L. Everett
Percival L. Everett

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Avenue of the Americas New York, Barton Wilkes, Senator Thurmond, South Carolina, Martin Snell, Ralph Vendetti, United States, Interoffice Memo November, Johnson Trotter, North Carolina, Atlantic City, Interoffice Memo January, Public Relations The Hon, Ted Kennedy, Elephant Man, Interoffice Memo April, Interoffice Memo October, Patrick's Day, Publisher Author Reginald Hines, Simon Et Schuster, Snell Senior Editor Simon
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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4.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Clever Satire, April 10, 2004
By Jeffrey Gordon (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond, as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid (A Novel) (Akashic Urban Surreal) (Paperback)
I bought the book because I'd heard it was funny and figured it would be nice for a light read.

The writing team is made up of James Kincaid, who I've never heard of, and Percival Everett, well-known as the guy who refused to speak in the South Carolina State Legislature because of the presence of the Confederate flag. This sparked off a long controversy that eventually ended in its removal.

The book is indeed quite funny. It's also a relatively light read (though not quite as light as I'd intended - the language can be a bit dense, but always amusingly so).

The writing style often bears a striking resemblence to another Southern novel, Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, and the character Barton Wilkes of Toole's Ignatius J. Reilly.

"My dating life is, I am happy to say, creative and unboundeed by rules of public declarations. I am not one to say, "I will only date people who do A, or people who eat B, or people who are proficient at backyard C, or people who---," You see. Your comments on my complexion (poor), slouch, and bad hair are fine jokes. Very manly. That's just one thing I like about you. I think we are the sort who could, if we liked, have some beers, eat peanuts, watch football, insult one another, and pee on the floor. That is if we wanted to, if you wanted to. I mean we could do that, not necessarilly that we would or anything like that. It'd be up to you."

The book, of course, needs to take on the Strom issue, and does so, albeit reluctantly and seldomly. In doing so it makes a cogent (And sincerely held? Hard to tell.) point about the rift between the Southern and Northern states, and the subtle politics of self-righteousness that led the Northerners to condemntation of the South in spite of their own grave defficiencies in regard to civil rights.

As James says in a letter to Percival after their first meeting with Strom:
"I sort of like him, and I don't think that's a racist thing to say. You admitted you sorta liked him too. There was the quasi-headstand [he did], of course, but think of it as pathos. He's just trying to find his way back to the light as all the windows are closing on him. That's a good line we can use in the history."

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Funny, May 25, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond, as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid (A Novel) (Akashic Urban Surreal) (Paperback)
This book is wonderful! A good read for anyone!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Suprisingly funny, May 25, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond, as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid (A Novel) (Akashic Urban Surreal) (Paperback)
I read this book because I am a huge fan of Percival Everett's, and I was really blown away by how funny it is. I recommend it indeed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious
This book is crazy. Without a doubt this is the funiest, laugh out loud book I've ever read. I read this about five years ago got to thinking about it again the other day and am... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Thomas Allen

5.0 out of 5 stars just read it!!!
I actually bought this book thinking it would do a lot more strom-thurmond-bashing then it ended up doing. Read more
Published on May 10, 2004

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