From the Bookshelf of Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library…

Erasure

Percival Everett

Start date: October 25, 2011

Finish date: November 16, 2011

Why we're reading this: November selection for the African-American Writers Book Club
[close] November selection for the African-American Writers Book Club

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May 16, 2019 Chris Blocker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: to-read-2019

Raise your hand if you've heard of Percival Everett.

I imagine a few hands raise. Only a few. By no means is Everett a well-known or widely-read author. Why is this? We'll get to that shortly.

If you're one of the many not yet familiar with Everett, let me introduce you: Percival Everett is the award-winning author of more than thirty books. His first was published in 1983—his most recent 2017. Throughout his career, he's received dozens of honors for his work. What does Everett write about? Whate Raise your hand if you've heard of Percival Everett.

I imagine a few hands raise. Only a few. By no means is Everett a well-known or widely-read author. Why is this? We'll get to that shortly.

If you're one of the many not yet familiar with Everett, let me introduce you: Percival Everett is the award-winning author of more than thirty books. His first was published in 1983—his most recent 2017. Throughout his career, he's received dozens of honors for his work. What does Everett write about? Whatever he feels like—whatever has captured his attention. He's covered mythology and westerns on several occasions, with stops to explore poetry, baseball, and even philosophy as told by a four year old. The Washington Post labeled him as “one of the most adventurously experimental of modern American novelists.”

So that's Percival Everett. Also, it's important to note for the sake of discussing Erasure that Everett is black.

Now let me introduce you to this phenomenal work of literature. The protagonist, Thelonious Ellison, is a brilliant and acclaimed author who is having trouble selling his most recent novel. There have been complaints from the publishers that Ellison's writing is not “black enough.” Ellison writes about a wide range of topics—one of his favorite subjects is mythology. Frustrated with the remarkable success of a novel titled We's Lives In Da Ghetto, Ellison scribbles an angry response, a parody that is thoroughly embraced by the literary world.

So why is Everett largely unknown? I think Erasure addresses that question. As a reader, I cannot say how much of this novel is truly biographical, but I don't think I'm completely off by drawing a comparison here. As an author of tremendous talent, Everett's frustration after twenty years of relative obscurity surely must parallel that of Thelonious Ellison. If only these authors would write something about what it means to be black, they'd find success.

In this one novel, Everett tackles the duplicity of the publishing industry. Though more authors of color are being published in recent years, there still exists some degree of expectation that these authors “stick to what they know,” even if it's not actually indicative of their experience. Erasure addresses this hypocrisy in a way that is both comical and heartbreaking in equal measures. It is a brilliant exploration of identity, a multi-layered look at what makes a person. Joining Ellison on this journey—a mother suffering from Alzheimer's, a brother discovering his sexuality, and a sister firmly committed to her pro-choice convictions.

Whatever the subject, Everett is an intelligent author with astounding insight and a knack for language. His work may not have achieved the status it deserves, but I believe that day will come. I know that I will be revisiting his work sooner than later. ...more

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Jan 25, 2024 Angie rated it really liked it

Everett is a writer I've been meaning to read for years, and I wanted to read this one before viewing American Fiction, which is based on this book. I went in expecting the plot about the obscure and experimental Black writer who ends up writing a parody of "ghetto lit" as a joke, after being offended by the meteoric popularity of one such book, only to have it take off in a way he didn't imagine. I didn't expect that a large portion of the book is also a family drama. I enjoyed both parts of th ...more

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Feb 07, 2025 Katy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Credit to this review for helping me better understand what I was reading!!

Since finishing the novel, I'm confused but enlightened. I think my confusion came from the fact that before reading it, I assumed the majority of this novel was about the parody novel written by the main character and the unimagined success he finds for himself through it. In my opinion, that was about 25% of the novel. Mostly, this was a story about Monk, the main character's life, and his relationship with his mother a ...more

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