Review: James
This wasn’t what I was expecting at all. The elevator pitch for this was that Percival Everett wrote a version of Huck Finn from Jim’s perspective. And it is that, as much as it’s any one thing.
I think a fair amount of the fun of James is riding along with Everett and figuring out what he is up to. I will say that I think he does a good job capturing the flavor of Huck Finn, which is such an oddball of great literature that I’d be hard pressed to describe that flavor with any precision. My review above mentions that in Huck Finn “there are many moments of lyrical beauty; laugh-out-loud bits of humor; huge moments of grappling with good and evil.” I think all that is true in James as well.
Strongly Recommended.