Description

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Veteran authors Everett and Kincaid present an uproarious send-up of one of America’s most controversial American icons.

“[A]n outrageously funny satire of race relations and racism, US history, contemporary sexual mores and behavior, academia, and the publishing industry . . . It could become a cult-classic . . . Highly recommended.” —Library Journal

Everett and Kincaid present a fictitious 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, A 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.

About the Author

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PERCIVAL EVERETT is the author of fifteen novels, among them The Water Cure, Erasure, and Glyph. He is the author of the poetry collection Abstraktion und Einfühlung, the coauthor of A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond, as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid (A Novel), and provided annotations for Akashic’s publication of The Jefferson Bible. He is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California and lives in the Los Angeles area.

Praise For…

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The story’s epistolary format allows novelist Everett and literary theorist Kincaid to write in a chorus of richly individuated voices, by turns—and often simultaneously—sardonic, hysterical, obsequious and threatening, aware of their own hypocrisies but unwilling to renounce them. The result is a truly funny sendup of the corrupt politics of academe, the publishing industry and politics, as well as a subtle but biting critique of racial ideology.
— Publishers Weekly

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

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

This is the funniest novel I’ve read in years! I had trouble reading it because I had to stop to laugh out loud so often. Among many other things, it’s a treasure of satiric humor. Don’t pass it up!
— Clarence Major, author of Configurations

James Kincaid has an easy familiarity, an often-charming wit, and a cool sense of the absurd.
— Washington Times