Pure brilliance. Funny, wise, gracious; this may be Everett's best book yet

- Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of <i>Lessons in Chemistry</i>,

Percival Everett is a giant of American letters, and <i>James </i>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, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of <i>Trust</i>,

My favourite novel this year was <i>James</i> by Percival Everett. By giving the runaway Jim from <i>The Adventures of </i><i>Huckleberry Finn</i> his own voice (or voices) and his dignity – James, not Jim – he adds a dimension that’s missing from the original, and, I think, improves on it

- Salman Rushdie, <i>The Observer</i>, 'Books of the Year',

Scorchingly funny . . . A significant and exhilarating corrective to history, told in the most compelling of voices

- <i>The Sunday Times</i>, 'Books of the Year',

Playful and viciously comic . . . <i>James </i>might be the book of the year and ought to have won the Booker Prize

- <i>The Daily Telegraph</i>, 'Books of the Year',

Percival Everett’s magisterial satire <i>James </i>[is] an essential rewrite of Mark Twain’s <i>Huckleberry Finn</i>

- <i>The Guardian</i>, 'Books of the Year;,

<i>James </i>is not just an imaginative retelling of Mark Twain’s <i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i> (which gives voice and agency to the enslaved Jim) but a gripping and propulsive drama that takes readers on a familiar journey while challenging their preconceptions at every twist and turn

- <i>Financial Times</i>, 'Books of the Year',

One of the novels of the year . . . [It] is both true to the original and turns it entirely on its head. Crackling with insight and wit

- <i>Daily Mail</i>, 'Books of the Year',

You will never think of Mark Twain's seminal 19th-century novel in the same way again, as Everett's version is subversive, clever and exciting, while also being a rollicking good read

- <i>i</i> newspaper, 'Books of the Year',

<i>James</i> by Percival Everett [is] such a brilliant retelling of <i>The Adventures of </i><i>Huckleberry Finn</i> from the point of view of the enslaved Jim, resisting and rebelling against underestimation and oppression. A wise and profound book – and funny too

- Kit de Waal, <i>The Observer</i>, 'Books of the Year',

<i>James</i> by Percival Everett is more than a retelling of a classic; it is a reclamation, somehow a homage and a rebuke – a retelling that centres a man we only previously accessed through the lens of a child. It is a wry, wise, funny and touching book that I would gift to strangers on the street if I could

- Attica Locke, <i>The Observer</i>, 'Books of the Year',

Funny, moving, beautifully written, Percival Everett’s retelling of <i>The Adventures of</i><i> Huckleberry Finn</i> is a brave thing to do – but Everett is a fitting match for Mark Twain

- Margaret MacMillan, <i>New Statesman</i>, 'Books of the Year',

Original, funny, quirky and serious without being solemn

- <i>The Spectator</i>, 'Books of the Year',

Choosing the best book of the year is usually a test . . . But this year Percival Everett’s <i>James </i>. . . is so dazzling that it deserves wide appreciation and acknowledgement . . . [It] will surely become a classic to be read alongside Twain

- Elaine Showalter, <i>TLS</i>, 'Books of the Year',

Gripping, painful, funny, horrifying . . . a consummate performance to the last

The Observer

This is the work of an American master at the peak of his powers

Financial Times

Both a page-turner and a profound meditation on the ramifications of slavery and self-hood . . . Luminous

TLS

A classic novel overhauled by a modern master

The Daily Telegraph

Percival Everett is an essential writer and <i>James</i> may be his greatest novel yet

i

A sharp novel . . . You may think you know Huck Finn’s story but this version breathes new life into it with unexpected twists and turns making it a must-read

Daily Mirror

Majestic . . . [<i>James</i>] is Everett’s most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful

The New York Times

American literature’s philosopher king — and its sharpest satirist

The New Yorker

[An] ingenious retelling of <i>The Adverntures of Huckleberry Finn</i> . . . Everett has outdone himself

- <i>Publishers Weekly</i> (Starred Review),

The audacious and prolific Everett dives into the very heart of Twain's epochal odyssey

- <i>Kirkus </i> (Starred Review),

An absolutely essential read

- <i>Booklist</i> (Starred Review),

Clever, soulful, and full of righteous rage . . . <i>James</i> is destined to become a modern classic

Esquire.com

To call <i>James </i>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

‘[A] careful and thought-provoking auditing of <i>The Adventures of</i> <i>Huckleberry Finn</i> . . . broadening our understanding of an endangered classic by bringing out the tragedy behind the comic façade

The Wall Street Journal

In a fever dream of a retelling, the new reigning king of satire, Percival Everett, has turned one of America's best loved classics, <i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i>, upside down . . . a startling homage and a new classic in its own right

NPR.org

Heir to Mark Twain’s satirical vision, Everett turns a boyhood memoir into a neo-fugitive slave narrative thriller . . . a provocative, enlightening work of literary art

The Boston Globe

[A] sly response to <i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i> . . . <i>James</i> both honors and interrogates Huck Finn, along with the nation that reveres it

The Washington Post

Once you’ve picked up Everett’s <i>James</i>, a retelling of <i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i>, 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

Audacious. . . Everett [gives] Jim – who, we learn, prefers to be called James – his agency, letting his intelligence and compassion shine through

Time

[Percival Everett is a] prolific genius . . . If anyone is poised to casually 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 <i>James</i>

Elle

Everett's latest dazzling novel is a supplement and a rebuke, a corrective and a celebration of Mark Twain's [<i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i>]

Scotland on Sunday

[<i>James</i>] abounds in satire and irony . . . Like Kafka, [Percival Everett] is capable at once of being scarily funny and chillingly serious

The Herald

By recasting Twain’s flawed classic as a portrait of an enslaved man – in all the fullness of his courage, humanity and humour – Everett leaves a meaningful mark on American letters

The Irish Times

The wit of the writing and the fascinating examination into the freeing power of language preserves the charm and action-packed adventure of [<i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i>], while cleverly – and at times harrowingly – deconstructing its flaws

Irish Mail on Sunday

<i>James</i> is a masterful reimagining of Mark Twain’s <i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn </i>. . . [Percival Everett] has written a classic

- Nicola Sturgeon, <i>New Statesman</i>, 'Books of the Year',

<i>James</i>, Percival Everett’s reimagining of <i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,</i> was the pick of the Booker list – a nerveless triumph of tone

- Andrew Marr, <i>New Statesman</i>, 'Books of the Year',

Impudent and satirical, Everett demands courageous open-mindedness from his readers

- Terri Apter, <i>TLS</i>, 'Books of the Year',

Devastating . . . [James's] fearsome transformation is marked not only in the title, but also in [the novel's] final words

- Leo Lensing, <i>TLS</i>, 'Books of the Year',