The Sellout
Paul Beatty · b. 1962 · United States
Why it matters
A Black farmer in a Los Angeles suburb erased from the map tries reinstating slavery and segregation to put it back on, and ends up before the Supreme Court. Beatty's Booker winner is American satire at its most gleefully purposeful.
At a glance
satire
Difficulty 6/10fast pace304 pagesDense, rapid-fire satirical riffing demands close attention to land every joke.
Deep dive
Why a Black narrator reinstating slavery and segregation reads as protest art, not self-hatred, and what putting his hometown back on the map is really an argument for.
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