'James' by Percival Everett

James, Percival Everett (4.0)

This book is a retelling of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ from the point of view of Jim, the slave who escaped down the river with Huck. Different viewpoints can be interesting, but here the author has successfully turned the story by 180 degrees. The title foreshadows the main character’s worldview difference – he is a well-spoken, self-educated ‘James’. He does his best to protect his family while playing the appropriately subservient slave. Once his wife and daughter are sold, he decides to escape, which seemed a bit odd as someone who appreciates the shadows, he then becomes a major target Overall, I appreciated the tone taken that the slaves had a whole culture hidden from others as a survival strategy. I only questioned it when in a time when the average person did not finish 8th grade, the self-educated James with severely limited access to books, pencil or paper, uses vocabulary that is indicative of a college education. 

'Creep: Accusations and Confessions' by Myriam Gurba

Creep: Accusations and Confessions, Myriam Gurba (3.5)

We have all met or are familiar with various ‘creeps’ in life. Ms. Gurba has had more than her fair share. Each chapter highlights a relatively terrible person (herself included) in her life. This book made me quite sad as it represented so many bad behaviors and attitudes in one place. While we should all face that reality, it was not easy to read.  One small consolation was that I was able to see Ms. Gurba in person discuss the book and while a serious subject, she does not seem to have been overly hardened by the events in her life. I would have liked to have seen a bit more editing to remove some repetition in the essays.