WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:02.839
<v Speaker 1>Hello, and welcome to the w b Z Book Club.

2
00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:05.160
<v Speaker 1>This is Jordan Rich. In March of last year, a

3
00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:08.960
<v Speaker 1>new book by Percival Everett was released, and it's called James,

4
00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:12.880
<v Speaker 1>with the focus of an enduring character in American literature, Jim,

5
00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:16.640
<v Speaker 1>the former slave who befriends Huck Finn on his adventures

6
00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:19.719
<v Speaker 1>on the Mississippi River. It's a reimagining of the Huck

7
00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:23.480
<v Speaker 1>Finn story, with Jim now the central character who's threatened

8
00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:26.000
<v Speaker 1>with quote, being sold down the river, and facing the

9
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:29.839
<v Speaker 1>horrible separation from his family. In the novel James, Jim

10
00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:32.640
<v Speaker 1>is portrayed with more nobility. We find out that he

11
00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:36.119
<v Speaker 1>is quite well read. He's a deep and profound thinker

12
00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:40.119
<v Speaker 1>whose Southern slave dialect so prominent in the eighteen eighty

13
00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:44.119
<v Speaker 1>five Mark Twain's story and so controversial in the present day. Well,

14
00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.520
<v Speaker 1>in this novel, that method of dialect is a cover,

15
00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:49.920
<v Speaker 1>a way for Jim to playcate white folks, particularly those

16
00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:53.679
<v Speaker 1>who are after him. Jim's perspective is illuminating. James, a

17
00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:56.840
<v Speaker 1>new look at a noble character in American literature by

18
00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.079
<v Speaker 1>Perceval Everett. The Book Club w b Z Boston's new

19
00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:00.520
<v Speaker 1>is Radio