From Twain to Everett

Friday, April 18, 2025

When I was a senior in high school, I played Huckleberry Finn in a community theater production of Down River (think Big River without the Broadway pedigree). I loved the story then, and I love it now. Producing a musical like that today probably wouldn’t be received very well because… well, that judgment isn’t mine to make. Or maybe it is; I don’t know.

Percival Everett’s book James reimagines Mark Twain’s story from Jim’s point of view. It was Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year last year. It will be the first physical book I’ve read in many years. Everett discusses the novel in this interview with Esquire Magazine.

I’m sure I’ll have more to say when I finish the book. For now, I’m off to rejoin our two fugitives as they float down the Mississippi River.