I went to the book club discussion for The Sellout when I had 50 pages left in the book. I was a bit nervous about the ending of the book being ruined or spoiled in some way, but I learned later that there wasn’t much to ruin in the final pages.
The writing of the book was very good. There were a ton of great references and Beatty had great ways of expressing emotions and descriptions. He was smart and witty. The members of my group who finished the book cited this for why they kept reading. Many put the book down and most said they wouldn’t recommend it.
Many of our readers had an issue right from the prologue. It was so steeped in surreal elements that someone thought it was a dream. Living off drug money and running a farm in LA was a bit too much to handle. It was hard to pull meaning out of a story filled with so much satire. What was real and being mocked? There was a lot that was contrary to US history or US social norms and these parts were clearly satirical, but what about the horse or the bus party?
Hominy was easily a favorite amongst our group. His acting and stories told the story that sometimes you work as hard as everyone else and you get none of the credit. It’s a strong parallel for slavery. The slaves kept the American South’s agriculture alive. But they got no credit for it.
We asked ourselves if the narrator really was a sellout. He didn’t stand up for himself a lot and kind of went with the flow. Though I think you could argue Foy did so even more. The narrator at least tried to re-segregate the city. How much of this is a good goal is up to the reader to decide. Many people only do what they need to do and what is asked of them without going beyond. It doesn’t necessarily make one a sellout.
This book wasn’t a big hit for many of us. I’m glad I read it but it’s not one I’ll recommend. We’re hoping our next book will spark some more discussion.
Until next time, write on.
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Taking On a World of Words 