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One of the most important things Ive read this yearSolo Mommy Rising

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Percival L. Everett

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James (Pulitzer Prize Winner): A Novel Hardcover – March 19, 2024

by Percival Everett (Author)

65,673 ratings

#1 Best Seller in Fiction Satire

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Pulitzer PrizeWinner, 2025
National Book AwardWinner, 2024

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PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • KIRKUS PRIZE WINNER • A LOS ANGELES TIMES BEST FICTION BOOK OF THE LAST 30 YEARS

In development as a feature film to be produced by Steven Spielberg • A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times Book Review, LA Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, TIME, and more.

"Genius"—The Atlantic • "A masterpiece that will help redefine one of the classics of American literature, while also being a major achievement on its own."—Chicago Tribune • "A provocative, enlightening literary work of art."—The Boston Globe • "Everett’s most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful."—The New York Times

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. 

Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim’s agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.

From the Publisher

this retelling might be a masterpiece writes the New York Times

will help redefine one of the classics of American literature says the Chicago Tribune

enlightening work of literary art says the Boston Globe

Editorial Reviews

Review

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION | BARNES & NOBLE'S 2024 BOOK OF THE YEAR

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, THE ECONOMIST, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, AND VANITY FAIR, AMONG OTHERS...

“The cult favorite author’s electric new work. . . James completely reimagines one-half of Finn’s famous duo, elevating him from unwitting sidekick to reluctant hero. . . Everett brings that laser-sharp wit to James, creating a radical new American adventure.”
—W Magazine

“James offers page-turning excitement but also off-kilter philosophical picaresque. . . Gripping, painful, funny, horrifying, this is multi-level entertainment, a consummate performance to the last."
—The Guardian

“Blasted clean of Twain’s characterization, Jim emerges here as a man of great dignity, altruism, and intelligence. . . Clever, soulful, and full of righteous rage, [Jim’s] long-silenced voice resounds through this remarkable novel. Subversive and thrilling, James is destined to become a modern classic.”
—Esquire

“[A] careful and thought-provoking auditing of Huckleberry Finn. . . [James is] a kind of commentary or midrash, broadening our understanding of an endangered classic by bringing out the tragedy behind the comic facade. And that is no small thing. I expect that James will be spoken of as a repudiation of Huckleberry Finn, but a book like this can only be written in a spirit of engaged devotion. More than a correction, it’s a rescue mission. And maybe this time it will work.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“Heir to Mark Twain’s satirical vision, Everett turns a boyhood memoir into a neo-fugitive slave narrative thriller. . . Using erasure, Everett has produced a daring emendation. Redacting swaths of Huck Finn, he’s revealed another code: the untranslated story of James’s self-emancipation. . . James is a provocative, enlightening work of literary art.”
—The Boston Globe

“[Everett is a] prolific genius. . . A literary jukebox. . . If anyone is poised to casually (after all, he has bills) write a masterpiece that not only becomes instant canon but also sets a brush fire to the current ones it stands upon, it’s Everett. And that’s exactly what he’s done with James.”
—Elle

"Huck Finn’ Is a Masterpiece. This Retelling Just Might Be, Too."
—The New York Times

“[A] sly response to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. . . While The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn lampooned American society through the naiveté of its young narrator, James critiques White racism with the sharp insight of a character who’s felt the lash...What’s most striking, ultimately, is the way James both honors and interrogates Huck Finn, along with the nation that reveres it.”
—The Washington Post

"Percival Everett [is] our current Great American Novelist. . . [JAMES] is a masterpiece that will help redefine one of the classics of American literature, while also being a major achievement on its own. . . I almost cannot imagine a future where teachers assign The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn without also assigning James alongside it. . . Everett is one of the most, if not the most interesting writers working today.”
—The Chicago Tribune

“To call James a retelling would be an injustice. Everett sends Mark Twain’s classic through the looking glass. What emerges is no longer a children’s book, but a blood-soaked historical novel stripped of all ornament. . . Genius.”
—The Atlantic

"Once you’ve picked up Everett’s James, a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, you’ll know that only Everett could take on the task of allowing Mark Twain’s character Jim to show what was missing from the original story.”
—The Los Angeles Times

“Percival Everett continues his blistering pace of unforgettable fiction with James. . . Everett infuses this well-known story with a refreshingly contemporary jolt of agency, intelligence, and compassion, bringing new life to the character of Jim and the American epic.”
—Chicago Review of Books

“Using nuance and vulnerability to emphasize Jim’s humanity, [Everett leaves a] stamp on the literary landscape as he dismantles the stereotypes of the enslaved humans depicted in Twain’s classic. . . Percival Everett has accomplished more than humanizing a marginalized voice. He has, once again, delivered a seminal work of literary reparation.”
—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Everett’s James isn’t out to displace Twain’s book. It’s carrying out a bolder, more ingenuous, and, characteristic of its author, more subversive agenda...Everett endows Jim with greater dimension and nuance than his original creator did. Huckleberry Finn provided Jim with courage, dignity, and virtue. James bestows upon him the greater, if more complicated, privilege of full (if not yet unfettered) humanity."
—The New Republic

“Playful and resonant. . . Everett has plenty of derisive fun here, dissecting and subverting damaging stereotypes. . . For a writer who often plays by few rules, Everett has drawn on what he knows best here – that freedom can be won, one word at a time. Add levity and serious intent and you have a novel that's a class act.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Audacious. . . Everett [gives] Jim—who, we learn, prefers to be called James—his agency, letting his intelligence and compassion shine through. James is a poignant if often distressing reintroduction to a beloved character who deserved better.”
—Time

"Ingenious"
—People

“Percival Everett with virtuosic wit presents a spin on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
—Vanity Fair

"More than audacious. With James, Everett has mounted a high-stakes, revisionist raid not just on Twain’s imagination but on ours as a nation. . . [Everett is] a brilliantly sly novelist."
—Garden & Gun

"We may not be meeting Jim for the first time, but we’re introduced to him in a bold new way."
—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"In an astounding riposte, the much-lauded Everett (Dr. No, 2022) rewrites [Huck Finn] as a liberation narrative, told from Jim (or rather James’) point of view...An absolutely essential read."
—Booklist (Starred Review)

"The audacious and prolific Everett dives into the very heart of Twain’s epochal odyssey...One of the noblest characters in American literature gets a novel worthy of him."
—Kirkus (Starred Review)

“Ingenious … Jim’s wrenching odyssey concludes with remarkable revelations, violent showdowns, and insightful meditations on literature and philosophy. Everett has outdone himself.”
—Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)

"James is funny and horrifying, brilliant and riveting. In telling the story of Jim instead of Huckleberry Finn, Percival Everett delivers a powerful, necessary corrective to both literature and history. I found myself cheering both the writer and his hero. Who should read this book? Every single person in the country.”
—Ann Patchett

"Percival Everett is a giant of American letters, and James is a canon-shatteringly great book. Unforgiving and compassionate, beautiful and brutal, a tragedy and a farce, this brilliant novel rewrites literary history to let us hear the voices it has long suppressed.”
—Hernan Diaz, author of Trust

“This is a brilliant, accessible, and very necessary companion to Huckleberry Finn.”
—Dave Eggers, author of The Eyes and the Impossible

“James is a masterpiece. I read it late this summer, and I have already recommended it to enough people to put it on the bestseller lists, in the classrooms, libraries, book clubs and hands in which it so rightly belongs.”
—Francine Prose

“Percival Everett is a genre.”
—Kiese Laymon

“Pure brilliance. Funny, wise, gracious; this may be Everett's best book yet.”
—Bonnie Garmus

“Percival Everett is an audacious, beguiling American master, whose wild trajectory has reached astonishing highs in the past decade. Now comes James, which enlists and devours not only Mark Twain’s novel but aspects of Melville, Ellison, and even Kafka to makes an irrevocable intervention into the canon. Everett is simply playing this game at a higher level, and it is the most serious game imaginable.”
—Jonathan Lethem

About the Author

PERCIVAL EVERETT is a Distinguished Professor of English at USC. His most recent books include Dr. No (finalist for the NBCC Award for Fiction and winner of the PEN/ Jean Stein Book Award), The Trees (finalist for the Booker Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction), Telephone (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), So Much Blue, Erasure, and I Am Not Sidney Poitier. He has received the NBCC Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award and The Windham Campbell Prize from Yale University. American Fiction, the feature film based on his novel Erasure, was released in 2023 and was awarded the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the writer Danzy Senna, and their children

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday; First Edition (March 19, 2024)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385550367
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385550369
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.86 x 1.22 x 8.63 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #22 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Black & African American Historical Fiction (Books)
- #1 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #1 in Fiction Satire

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Percival L. Everett

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PERCIVAL EVERETT is a Distinguished Professor of English at USC. His most recent books include Dr. No (finalist for the NBCC Award for Fiction and winner of the PEN/ Jean Stein Book Award), The Trees (finalist for the Booker Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction), Telephone (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), So Much Blue, Erasure, and I Am Not Sidney Poitier. He has received the NBCC Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award and The Windham Campbell Prize from Yale University. American Fiction, the feature film based on his novel Erasure, was released in 2023. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the writer Danzy Senna, and their children.

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Customers say

Customers find this novel to be a remarkable reimagining of "Huckleberry Finn" that offers a completely new way to see the story. The writing is well-crafted and easy to read, while the narrative is thought-provoking and emotionally provoking, with one customer noting how it provides an eye-opening perspective on a period of time. Customers appreciate the rich character development, particularly the humanity of James' character, and the book's humor, with one review highlighting how it captures Mark Twain's wry style.

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Readability Story quality Thought provoking Writing quality Heartbreaking story Character development Creativity Humor

750 customers mention "Readability"729 positive21 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a remarkable and engaging novel that is wildly entertaining.

"...There’s also a surprising amount of suspense and grit in the narrative...." Read more

"...The major twist is foreshadowed early on, so it doesn’t come out of nowhere, and it changes the complexion of the story...." Read more

"This National Book Award Winning novel is richer if you know the story of Twain's Huck Finn, but the story can stand alone...." Read more

"...Well written and informative while also engaging." Read more

454 customers mention "Story quality"383 positive71 negative

Customers find the book's story compelling and engaging, appreciating it as a well-told historical fiction novel that offers a fresh perspective on the adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

"...’ve read Twain’s original, James stands on its own as a powerful work of historical fiction and literary commentary...." Read more

"...Everett reappropriates that story, turns it upside down and inside out, and leans formidably forward by making this a story and POV of Jim, with..." Read more

"Although a work of fiction, this story’s perspective highlights the brutality of being a slave...." Read more

"...is richer if you know the story of Twain's Huck Finn, but the story can stand alone...." Read more

396 customers mention "Thought provoking"375 positive21 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking, with its premise being insightful and providing lots to think about and discuss.

"...James is clever and self-aware, and his inner life is painted with a richness that makes the story feel both epic and intimate...." Read more

"...His quick wit, thoughtful compassion, and deep humanity also become his ammunition in a hostile world...." Read more

"Although a work of fiction, this story’s perspective highlights the brutality of being a slave...." Read more

"...It is a story of the toughness, determination, compassion, intelligence and luck a black man needs to retain his dignity, humanity and life in a..." Read more

307 customers mention "Writing quality"261 positive46 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, finding it well-crafted and easy to read, with one customer highlighting the brilliant use of the American language.

"...The writing is sharp, layered, and often darkly funny...." Read more

"...Percival Everett is a gifted, powerful writer whose 2001 novel, Erasure, turns racial and other stereotyping upside down...." Read more

"...Well written and informative while also engaging." Read more

"...It is beautifully written and one of those rare books I know I will read again and again." Read more

125 customers mention "Heartbreaking story"106 positive19 negative

Customers find this novel emotionally provoking and deeply unsettling, describing it as a beautiful but heartbreaking read.

"James is one of the most inventive and emotionally resonant books I’ve read in a long time...." Read more

"...early on, so it doesn’t come out of nowhere, and it changes the complexion of the story...." Read more

"...It's a fictionalized story, yet truthfully describes the terrors and injustice experienced by a black slave prior to the Civil War...." Read more

"...A page turner. The novel is captivating to where you can feel grief, sadness, anger and to even laugh. Towards the end, I didn’t see it coming...." Read more

116 customers mention "Character development"108 positive8 negative

Customers praise the character development in the book, noting the rich and empathetic portrayal of James, with one customer highlighting how the story reveals deep insights into the characters' inner lives.

"...and Telephone (a finalist for the Pulitzer in 2021) combine laconic protagonists, subversive wit, and tragic events...." Read more

"...In both stories, the characters separate for very good reasons. While apart, each must depend on his own wit, their own wiles to survive...." Read more

"...The story has some very interesting guest stars, such as Voltare, and the idea of freedom is discussed in the exhausted dreams James has while on..." Read more

"Love the characters, Jim goes down river with Huck. They get in all kinds of trouble...." Read more

112 customers mention "Creativity"108 positive4 negative

Customers appreciate the book's creativity, noting its spellbinding imagery and how it reimagines "Huckleberry Finn."

"...James is clever and self-aware, and his inner life is painted with a richness that makes the story feel both epic and intimate...." Read more

"...Intelligence is Jim’s stunning subterfuge. He has a rich interior life, and in dreams, he debates slavery and philosophy with the likes of Voltaire,..." Read more

"...James is a visceral portrait of the daily life of southern slaves. Everett’s descriptions made me laugh out loud, then choke on my sorrow...." Read more

"...Unbelievable, that a story read in childhood could be so well transformed." Read more

92 customers mention "Humor"86 positive6 negative

Customers enjoy the book's humor, finding it full of wit and making them chuckle throughout, with one customer noting it captures the humor of Mark Twain.

"...The writing is sharp, layered, and often darkly funny...." Read more

"...combine laconic protagonists, subversive wit, and tragic events...." Read more

"...Everett’s descriptions made me laugh out loud, then choke on my sorrow...." Read more

"...Most of it not so good. Humorous as well as unsettling." Read more

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Sean Bozarth
A Bold and Brilliant Reimagining of American Literature
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2025
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James is one of the most inventive and emotionally resonant books I’ve read in a long time. Percival Everett takes the familiar world of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and flips it entirely by telling the story through the eyes of Jim—now James—a character who finally gets the depth, voice, and power he always deserved.

The writing is sharp, layered, and often darkly funny. Everett doesn’t just retell Twain’s classic—he uses it as a springboard to explore race, language, survival, and freedom in ways that feel modern but still rooted in the brutality of the 19th century. There’s also a surprising amount of suspense and grit in the narrative. James is clever and self-aware, and his inner life is painted with a richness that makes the story feel both epic and intimate.

This isn’t just a retelling—it’s a reframing. Whether or not you’ve read Twain’s original, James stands on its own as a powerful work of historical fiction and literary commentary. Highly recommended for readers who want to be challenged, moved, and blown away by great storytelling.

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switterbug/Betsey Van Horn
The book that Percival Everett was born to write
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2024
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Percival Everett reimagines—no, inverts-- the classic saga of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that resides in every American’s consciousness. Huck Finn and enslaved Jim’s adventures have been in print for 140 years. If you didn’t read it in American schools, you’ve likely still been affected by its content. Everett reappropriates that story, turns it upside down and inside out, and leans formidably forward by making this a story and POV of Jim, with Huck at his side.

I am in awe and in thorough admiration of Percival Everett’s skills and fierce talent. My personal favorites, The Trees (shortlisted for Booker in 2022), and Telephone (a finalist for the Pulitzer in 2021) combine laconic protagonists, subversive wit, and tragic events. In James, he has made Twain’s classic his own historical fiction, and I applaud it as the contemporary bookend of Twain’s classic. He improves upon it by giving Jim agency. I predict that they will be teaching both books side by side in the coming years.

“White folks expect us to sound a certain way and it can only help if we don’t disappoint them…The only ones who suffer when they are made to feel inferior is us.” This is Jim, teaching his daughter and other enslaved children a lesson in coded speech. Although they speak eloquently amongst themselves, they communicate submissively to the white folks, which enhances their survival in a world where they are nothing but chattel. It also illuminates their intelligence as they hide (linguistically) in broad daylight from their ignorant “massas.”

Additionally, the enslaved people pretend that God and Jesus are primary in their lives, when in actuality, as Jim states, regarding white folks, “religion is just a controlling tool they employ and adhere to when convenient.” If there really was a God and a Jesus, why would they allow white people to enslave Black people? Is this the kind of world that any God intended?

As in Twain’s original, Jim and Huck run off together from Hannibal, Missouri and ride the Mississippi River, beginning in a raft. The main plotline of the original text is captured, but comically and dramatically turned on its head. Jim leads a double life—one that he owns, and one that meets white people’s expectations. In fact, there are those that are more threatened by a Black man with eloquence than they are by a Black man with a pistol.

Intelligence is Jim’s stunning subterfuge. He has a rich interior life, and in dreams, he debates slavery and philosophy with the likes of Voltaire, Rousseau, and John Locke. As an autodidact who enriched himself in Judge Thatcher’s library, Jim spends stealth nights in there poring over the judge’s books. His quick wit, thoughtful compassion, and deep humanity also become his ammunition in a hostile world.

As the plot progresses, Jim and Huck grow closer, and more revelations are gradually disclosed. The major twist is foreshadowed early on, so it doesn’t come out of nowhere, and it changes the complexion of the story. As others have already noted, this is the novel that Everett was born to write. In his hands, his heart.

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133 people found this helpful

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Arthur N
An enjoyable story from an interesting perspective
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2025
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Although a work of fiction, this story’s perspective highlights the brutality of being a slave. I enjoyed every minute I spent reading this story and recommend it to anyone that wants to understand one of the most troubling aspects of our history.

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2 people found this helpful

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Carol
Twain's Huck Finn story—from Jim's point of view
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2025
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This National Book Award Winning novel is richer if you know the story of Twain's Huck Finn, but the story can stand alone. It is a story of the toughness, determination, compassion, intelligence and luck a black man needs to retain his dignity, humanity and life in a racially prejudice society when all the cards are stacked against him. Percival Everett is a gifted, powerful writer whose 2001 novel, Erasure, turns racial and other stereotyping upside down. It was recently adapted for the American film, American Fiction.

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April Bayne
A Picture of Slavery from a Slave’s Point of View
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2025
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A slave’s story and a picture of what slavery was like from his point of view. A man that was resilient and clever enough to survive in his world.
His relationship with Huck highlights Huck’s confusion between living in a white or slave world. Huck learns a lot from his time with Jim and Jim shows his compassionate nature with him.
There are encounters with others along the way that offer instructive insights and humor.
Well written and informative while also engaging.

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AJ
Brilliant and Thought Provoking
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2025
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I have always been drawn to any twist on a classic tale. I think it’s fun to explore things from different perspectives. Growing up in the South with the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn as a staple, it was enlightening to step into that timeframe from Jim’s perspective.
When Jim overhears the plan to sell him off to another owner far away from his wife and daughter, he runs away. The penalty for a runaway slave is unthinkable, but when Huck fakes his own death and decides to follow him, Jim realizes he is very likely also a suspect for murder. While Jim and Huck struggle to live off the land and stay out of sight, they find themselves caught up in some harrowing situations.
James is a visceral portrait of the daily life of southern slaves. Everett’s descriptions made me laugh out loud, then choke on my sorrow. It is beautifully written and one of those rare books I know I will read again and again.

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Top reviews from other countries

Huw
Very readable with a lot of depth
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2025
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Thought provoking and highly readable. Enjoyed the book and also moved emotionally by it.

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tinafilzek
Great story retold with new perspective
Reviewed in Spain on May 1, 2025
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Great story retold, really funny at times and makes you think twice with this change of perspective.

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WWoman
Interesting premise
Reviewed in France on January 21, 2025
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There are a couple of premises in the book that were interesting. One in particular at the start and another at the end. Definitely a good read.

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Sally
Percival Everett “James”
Reviewed in Singapore on November 12, 2024
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Book well-wrapped and well-received. Thanks and looking forward to read.

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Sally

Percival Everett “James”

Reviewed in Singapore on November 12, 2024
Book well-wrapped and well-received. Thanks and looking forward to read.

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The Deedles
Brilliant
Reviewed in Australia on February 16, 2025
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What an amazing and profound ride I just took, travelling the Mississippi and beyond with James and (sometimes) Huck. A re-imaging and re-telling of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but from the point of view of Jim, his runaway slave friend. The story is entertaining, heartbreaking and humorous, thought-provoking and enlightening. Totally a five star read.

In my humble opinion, of course 💙

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Bold and Brilliant Reimagining of American Literature

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that Percival Everett was born to write

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable story from an interesting perspective

5.0 out of 5 stars Twain's Huck Finn story—from Jim's point of view

5.0 out of 5 stars A Picture of Slavery from a Slave’s Point of View

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and Thought Provoking

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Very readable with a lot of depth

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story retold with new perspective

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise

5.0 out of 5 stars Percival Everett “James”

Percival Everett “James”

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5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant

A Bold and Brilliant Reimagining of American Literature

The book that Percival Everett was born to write

An enjoyable story from an interesting perspective

Twain's Huck Finn story—from Jim's point of view

A Picture of Slavery from a Slave’s Point of View

Brilliant and Thought Provoking

Very readable with a lot of depth

Great story retold with new perspective

Interesting premise

Percival Everett “James”

Brilliant