After his father is killed by the police during a traffic stop, the protagonist embarks on a controversial social experiment of his own, and ends up before the Supreme Court. Brought up by a single father, a sociologist, the narrator grew up taking part in psychological studies about race. The novel’s narrator is an African-American urban farmer and pot smoker who lives in a small town on the outskirts of Los Angeles. “Readers turned off by excessive use of the N-word or those who are easily offended by stereotypes may find the book tough going,” a critic for Kirkus Reviews wrote in a largely positive review. Beatty’s scathing comic style might not appeal to everyone. In a review in The New York Times, Dwight Garner wrote that the novel’s first 100 pages read like “the most concussive monologues and interviews of Chris Rock, Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle wrapped in a satirical yet surprisingly delicate literary and historical sensibility.” And hopefully that can create space for others.”Ī raucous tragicomedy that explores the legacy of slavery and racial and economic inequality in America, the novel felt deeply resonant at a moment when police violence against African-Americans has incited protests around the country and forced Americans to confront the country’s history of racism. “I’m just trying to create space for myself. “It was a hard book for me to write I know it’s hard to read,” he said. Beatty said that writing “The Sellout” had taken an emotional toll.

The Sellout by Paul Beatty