Praise for Percival Everett:
"If Percival Everett isn't already a household name, it's because people
are more interested in politics than truth."--Madison Smartt Bell,
author of The Washington Square Ensemble
"Everett's talent is multifaceted, sparked by a satiric brilliance that
could place him alongside Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison . .
."--Publishers Weekly
"I think Percival Everett is a genius. I've been a fan since his first
novel. He continues to amaze me with each novel--as if he likes making
90-degree turns to see what's around the corner, and then over the edge
. . . He's a brilliant writer and so damn smart I envy him."--Terry
McMillan, author of Mama
A fictitious and satirical chronicle of South Carolina Senator Strom
Thurmond's desire to pen a history of African-Americans--his and his
aides' belief being that he has done as much, or more, than any American
to shape that history. An epistolary novel, The History follows the
letters of loose cannon Congressional office workers, insane interns at
a large New York publishing house and disturbed publishing executives,
along with homicidal rival editors, kindly family friends, and an
aspiring author named Septic. Strom Thurmond appears charming and open,
mad and sure of his place in American history.
Percival Everett is the author of 15 works of fiction, among them
Glyph, Watershed and Frenzy. His most recent novel, Erasure, won
the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and did little to earn him friends.
James Kincaid is an English professor at the University of Southern
California and has written seven books in literary theory and cultural
studies. These books and Kincaid himself have gradually lost their
moorings in the academic world, so there was nothing left for him to do
but to adopt the guise of fiction writer. Writing about madness comes
easy to him.
