The Trees by Percival Everett

The Trees

Percival Everett

You wouldn’t think a book about lynching would be funny, but somehow this police procedural story, that addresses both historical and modern day racism, veers from biting humour to horrifying retribution in a setting both familiar and strange. It's loaded with swearing and racial slurs, but that's all part of the satire. As the deaths pile up, and what began as a revenge crime snowballs into something much bigger, it becomes increasingly unreal.

Extract

'Aw, shit, I forgot to tell you the worst of it,' Fester said.

'What’s that?' Morris asked.

'The White men had their balls cut off.'

'What the freegone fuck you say?' Rupter said.  'You mean their testiculars?'

'That’s exactly what I mean.'

'Talk about burying the lede,' Rupter said.

Parallels
  • Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
  • Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
  • The Sellout by Paul Beatty