Erasure

Percival Everett's Erasure is a brilliantly intelligent, wry and levelheaded indictment of the way race is treated in modern culture, but no less passionate for its calm tone. It is also a very touching story of a man's desperate attempt to connect with his beloved family, even as it collapses around him, with the death of his sister, his mother's encroaching Alzheimer's, and his brother going emotionally off the rails, in what is very amusingly implied to be a spectacular fashion. It is also an interesting literary experiment, flitting between meditations on carpentry, to imagined conversations between the protagonist's artistic heroes, to straightforward narrative, and various pieces composed by writer protagonist Thelonius "Monk" Ellison (an academic paper, an entire novel-within-a-novel and a short story are all repeated in their entirety).The fact that Everett manages attempts to make Erasure all of these things, and then pulls them all off with dazzling aplomb, makes this well worth a read. You won't regret it, and you'll find yourself musing on it months from when you finish it.

Well worth the read - very amusing read as compared with Glyph which was dreadful, this book had a story which you could relate to

A very interesting novel;in fact I think it is unique. While I was unable to follow some parts of it, this did not hinder my enjoyment of the stories. I say stories because it is a novel inside a novel. Everett is obviously an extraordinary author.

I'm on the fence with this book. Everett uses a lot of technique, he's clearly talented. I really enjoyed the interactions between the protagonist Monk and his family. The dynamics between him and his family really touched me. There were a lot of good elements there, his ailing mother, his brother dealing with his own sexual identity, his sister getting murdered, his father's affair, and his discovery of a half-sister.What bothered me was the constant, "fluff." Most things Monk wrote, Everett put in the book in its entirety. His paper, his resume, his satire book (so there was a book within a book), these little hypothetical conversations between two historic characters, and these little excerpts where he gave ideas for novels. In my opinion, it took away from the story. It felt like unnecessary fluff just to extend the length of the book.There were funny parts in the book that made me laugh, calling it hysterical is a stretch though. I wouldn't go that far. I did read the book within the book, "My Pafhology." Again, it took away from the character Monk and his story. There was also *rape in the story, I feel he should have offered a content warning because that subject can really give some people PTSD. I really enjoyed the actual story, I thought it was well written and really pulled at my heartstrings. I just didn't care for the fluff. I

A great novel, packed with contradictions: page-turner absorbing, yet deeply thought-provoking. Laugh-out-loud funny yet deeply serious. About racial identity while condemning the whole concept of racial identity.Monk Ellison is a dour academic and Literary (with a capital L) author, born into an affluent, professional African-American family which defines itself by education and intellect rather than by race. Enraged by the success of an exploitative "black" novel, Monk dashes off a farcical "black" novel of his own. Naturally, it becomes the hugest sensation of the year.But the almost predictable comedy storyline is merely the skeleton which holds together this fine novel about identity--the social pressure to latch onto a racial identity, and the lack, faking and loss of personal identity. Monk's own identity struggles parallel those of his mother, who is gradually losing hers to Alzheimer's.Everett shows off his virtuosity as a writer by including the full text of his character's novella, as well as a hilariously obtuse scholarly paper that will offend any literature professor, and a goofy short story.It isn't often that I find a work that blends satire, rage, pathos and just plain great prose. I'm happy to have found a new favorite author.