For anyone previously unfamiliar with Everett's decades-long career, they will likely know him now, after his acclaimed 2001 novel, Erasure was turned into the Oscar-nominated 2023 film American Fiction. Everett's latest is a reimagining of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of the enslaved Jim, which hits all the familiar narrative beats of its inspiration while creating a dazzling (and very humorous) new work. "Gripping, painful, funny, horrifying, this is multi-level entertainment," writes The Observer, "a consummate performance to the last." (RL)

First published March 19, 2024