Percival Everett’s new novel, “James,” a retelling of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of Huck’s enslaved companion, won the National Book Award for fiction on Wednesday.
“James” flips the classic Mark Twain work on his head and explores how Huck’s companion, Jim, privately experienced the adventures, his thoughts about racism and the ways he behaved when white people weren’t around.
In his acceptance speech Wednesday, Everett spoke about the power of books and their ability to bring people together during challenging moments. “Two weeks ago, I was feeling pretty low, and to tell you the truth, I still felt pretty low,” alluding to the results of the presidential election. “As I look out at this, so much excitement about books, I have to say, I do feel some hope.”
Everett, whose literary work has largely focused on race in America, told the BBC earlier this year that the idea for “James” came to him one day as he was playing tennis. “I stopped and thought, ‘I wonder if anyone has written Huck Finn from Jim’s point of view?’” he recalled.
In the original story, Jim is on the run after learning he’s about to be sold to a new owner. The character doesn’t speak in Twain’s version, but Everett does give him a voice and casts him as a literate, thoughtful man who understands how racism shapes his life and how he must behave to survive. Critics have called Everett’s retelling “a slyly funny masterpiece.”
The National Book Award is the latest in a string of accolades for the 67-year-old author, who has dozens of books and short stories under his belt. “James” was also short-listed for the Booker Prize this year, as was his novel “The Trees” in 2022. His 2020 novel, “Telephone,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2021.
One of Everett’s books, “Erasure,” was adapted in 2023 into a film, “American Fiction,” starring Jeffrey Wright.
The National Book Foundation awarded Jason De León’s “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling” in the nonfiction category. Author Barbara Kingsolver and W. Paul Coates, founder of Black Classic Press, were given lifetime achievement awards.
Critics have condemned the decision to honor Coates because his press once reprinted “The Jewish Onslaught,” an essay that has been called anti-Semitic. In response, National Book Foundation executive director Ruth Dickey has said Coates was honored for his body of work rather than any individual publication.
She added that the foundation condemns anti-Semitism and bigotry, but values free expression.
“Anyone examining the work of any publisher, over the course of almost five decades, will find individual works or opinions with which they disagree or find offensive,” she added, according to WTOP.