Erasure
Percival Everett · b. 1956 · United States
Why it matters
A frustrated novelist writes a parody of 'authentic' Black urban fiction as a joke, then watches it become the very success he despised. Satire sharp enough to double as prophecy, later adapted into the film American Fiction.
At a glance
satirepostmodern
Difficulty 6/10fast pace265 pagesA novel-within-a-novel structure satirizing publishing's racial expectations.
Deep dive
What happens when a novelist writes the book he despises most as a joke, and the industry can't tell the difference between satire and the real thing.
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