Booze n' Books Club Inverness

As promised, our next meeting is the the second of our double bill. We will discuss the 2024 publication James which is a reimagining of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the runaway slave Jim. It has been described as a meditation on identity, belonging and the sacrifices we make to protect the ones we love. The Telegraph wrote the following:
‘Much as in Twain’s original work, Everett mixes the sweet with the bitter and horror with hilarity. Death stalks the Mississippi, and its waters are the source of food, tragedy and freedom, in both reality and fantasy. But Everett’s approach to violence is less oblique than Twain’s, as he dives through politeness and society’s pretences; Twain’s allusions to the brutality of white slave owners become graphic representations of whippings and other punishments. James insists upon its position as both interlocutor and subject, and the result is a challenge to both readers and the canon. Everett has long been the overlooked genius of American letters, writing work that’s too tough, too smart and too exact for widespread admiration. But now, by wrestling so well with one of the literary angels, he demands to be recognised.’