Paul Beatty is een hedendaagse Afro-Amerikaanse auteur die bekend staat om zijn scherpe satirische blik. Zijn werk buigt zich over de complexiteit van ras en identiteit, geleverd met een uniek ritme en scherpe intelligentie. Beatty verkent de Amerikaanse ervaring door middel van een literaire traditie die zowel diep kritisch als immens vermakelijk is. Zijn stijl wordt vaak omschreven als wild, geestig en compromisloos, wat hem een krachtige stem in de hedendaagse literatuur maakt.
Children of Fire is set in 1841, at the height of the industrial revolution in
the North West England. The story is told through the eyes of Josiah
Ainscough, who returns from travels on the continent, and he surprises
everyone by joining the Stockport Police Force.
This book is less a comprehensive collection of African-American humor than a
mix-tape narrative dubbed by a trusted friend-a sampler of underground
classics, rare grooves, and timeless summer jams, poetry and prose juxtaposed
with the blues, hip-hop, political speeches, and the world's funniest radio
sermon. The subtle musings of Toni Cade Bambara, Henry Dumas, and Harryette
Mullen are bracketed by the profane and often loud ruminations of Langston
Hughes, Darius James, Wanda Coleman, Tish Benson, Steve Cannon, and Hattie
Gossett. Some of the funniest writers don't write, so included are selections
from well-known yet unpublished wits Lightnin' Hopkins, Mike Tyson, and the
Reverend Al Sharpton. Selections also come from public figures and authors
whose humor, although incisive and profound, is often overlooked: Malcolm X,
Suzan-Lori Parks, Zora Neale Hurston, Sojourner Truth, and W.E.B. Dubois.
Groundbreaking, fierce, and hilarious, this is a necessary anthology for any
fan or student of American writing, with a huge range and a smart, political
grasp of the uses of humor.
A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and a race trial that leads him to the Supreme Court, this novel showcases a comic genius at the height of his craft. It challenges the core principles of the U.S. Constitution, urban life, the civil rights movement, father-son dynamics, and the quest for racial equality—embodied in the black Chinese restaurant. The narrator, raised in the "agrarian ghetto" of Dickens on the outskirts of Los Angeles, resigns himself to a life of lower-middle-class stagnation, reflecting on the cracks in his childhood bedroom ceiling. His upbringing under a single father, a controversial sociologist, subjects him to racially charged psychological studies, leading him to believe his father's work will culminate in a memoir that could solve their financial struggles. However, after his father's death in a police shoot-out, he discovers the memoir never existed, leaving him with only a bill for a drive-thru funeral. Driven by this betrayal and the decay of his hometown, he embarks on a mission to restore Dickens, which has been erased from the map. Teaming up with the town's most famous resident, the last surviving Little Rascal, he undertakes the outrageous act of reinstating slavery and segregating the local high school, ultimately landing him in the Supreme Court.
As fast-paced and hard-edged as the Harlem streets it portrays, Tuff shows off all of the amazing skill that Paul Beatty showed off in his first novel, The White Boy Shuffle.Weighing in at 320 pounds, Winston “Tuffy” Foshay, is an East Harlem denizen who breaks jaws and shoots dogs and dreams of millions from his idea Cap’n Crunch: The Movie, starring Danny DeVito. His best friend is a disabled Muslim who wants to rob banks, his guiding light is an ex-hippie Asian woman who worked for Malcolm X, and his wife, Yolanda, he married from jail over the phone. Shrewdly comical as this dazzling novel is, it turns acerbically sublime when the frustrated Tuffy agrees to run for City Council. Smartly irreverent and edgily fierce, Tuff is a bona fide original.
"Slumberland" is a breakout novel by Paul Beatty about a disaffected LA DJ, DJ Darky, who travels to post-Wall Berlin in search of his doppelganger, avant-garde jazz musician Charles Stone. The story explores themes of identity and meaning in a chaotic world, blending humor and deep reflection.
Not far in the future, Francesca is an apprentice in the idyllic, agrarian
community of Heron Fleet. She loves her impetuous partner Anya and the
community acts as mother and father to her, as its founders intended. But
outside Heron Fleet, the world is violent.