James - Percival Everett

In James, Booker Prize-shortlisted author Percival Everett delivers a provocative and masterfully written reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Told from the perspective of Jim—the enslaved man whose humanity is often sidelined in the original—Everett reclaims the narrative, placing intelligence, wit, and resistance at its heart. With daring prose and biting satire, Everett confronts America’s racial legacy, subverting one of its most iconic literary works to explore the psychological and physical survival of a man denied his voice for far too long.

Main Themes of the Book

• Reclamation of Voice: Jim is no longer a side character, but the central storyteller with agency, intellect, and resilience.
• Racial Identity and Injustice: The novel examines the violence, contradictions, and absurdities of slavery in the antebellum South.
• Subversion of Canon: Everett flips a foundational American novel, exposing its blind spots and offering a modern literary counterweight.
• Language and Resistance: The duality of Jim’s speech—his public dialect and private eloquence—illustrates survival through performance and code-switching.

Why you should read this book

• A bold, fiercely intelligent retelling of a literary classic.
• Illuminates untold truths by centering the perspective of the oppressed.
• Perfect for readers interested in anti-racist literature, historical fiction, or metafiction.
• Offers razor-sharp commentary on how stories are told, remembered, and manipulated.
• Written by one of America’s most inventive contemporary authors.

James by Percival Everett is more than a retelling—it’s a reclamation. It not only critiques a cornerstone of American literature but rebuilds it from within, creating a fiercely relevant and emotionally resonant novel. For those ready to confront uncomfortable truths and revel in masterful storytelling, James is essential reading.