Hell of a Book: National Book Award Winner (A Novel)

Is an individual of a marginalized group obligated to speak out and take responsibility for creating change? How can an author shine a unique light on recurring messages that no one seems to want to receive? Jason Mott’s Hell of a Book delivers its crucial message by using meta-fiction and humor in a refreshing way. The unnamed author of a sudden bestseller is forced to travel around “performing” to enhance sales. What he has learned is that America only accepts watered-down and innocuous stories, even at the expense of the work’s original purpose. Unpalatable realities are best delivered in a way that assuages guilt so potential buyers won’t be too uncomfortable. He also describes his life-long “imagination condition” which causes him to experience hallucinations. He can never really trust his own perceptions of the world, yet now he is expected to be a carefully managed representative of his race. This interesting plot is enhanced by an interweaving story of a young boy nicknamed “Soot” due to his unusually dark skin. Soot is an outcast, tormented by blatant racism even within his own community. His over-protective parents had tried to buffer the realities of racial inequity, police brutality and violence. They convinced the boy that he must “become invisible” to remain safe. The author encounters and befriends the boy, but he is the only one who can see him. Hell of a Book takes on many timely themes and topics and delivers them indirectly through the voices of its two wonderful characters. From their stories, the reader might be vulnerable to receiving a lesson on societal problems as they are distracted by also being entertained. The anonymous narrator discovers the purpose of his own book and his connection with Soot, and readers will be tremendously moved and enlightened to join in this journey as well. Thanks to the author, Penguin and Library Thing for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

he'll of a book. fantastic writing and a very moving story. he lightens the story with humor that makes this all bearable.

Beautifully written and poetic.