dommiz reviewed The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Review of 'The Sellout' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This funny, provocative and very well-written book is built around a bold proposition - to re-introduce slavery and segregation to America in order to 'save' the ghettoised black community - that appears absurd, and certainly offensive. You assume this is an extreme satire, where the conceit is a 'imagine if' scenario that is too daft to be real. Yet as you read further, you start to sympathise with the protagonist's plan. Indeed, one even starts to see the genius of the idea, even though it is also a repellent proposition. Great books like this manage to change the way you think amount a topic, despite one's own resistance, it facilitates the way in which one can think the unthinkable.
It is also a great read and laugh out loud funny. I got through it in two long haul flights, and earned stern glances from other passengers as a chuckled and …
This funny, provocative and very well-written book is built around a bold proposition - to re-introduce slavery and segregation to America in order to 'save' the ghettoised black community - that appears absurd, and certainly offensive. You assume this is an extreme satire, where the conceit is a 'imagine if' scenario that is too daft to be real. Yet as you read further, you start to sympathise with the protagonist's plan. Indeed, one even starts to see the genius of the idea, even though it is also a repellent proposition. Great books like this manage to change the way you think amount a topic, despite one's own resistance, it facilitates the way in which one can think the unthinkable.
It is also a great read and laugh out loud funny. I got through it in two long haul flights, and earned stern glances from other passengers as a chuckled and giggled my way through the book.
