# The Sellout

By Paul Beatty

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/the-sellout-c3ce2c70/

When Dickens disappears from California’s map, a Black farmer tries to force his hometown back into view. His methods include segregating a school and accepting a neighbor’s offer to become his slave, a campaign that reaches the Supreme Court.

## What makes it funny?

In the opening excerpt, the narrator’s psychologist father treats dinner as a behavioral stimulus. His son frustrates a lesson in racial consciousness by preferring the dolls with a speedboat and dune buggy.

### The comedy at work

The narrator translates childhood abuse into the language of experimental psychology. His educated, profane voice keeps puncturing the explanations people use for racial inequality.

### Try this if…

The jokes suit an appetite for confrontational American satire, dense verbal riffs and taboo premises.

### Good to know

Frequent racial slurs and stereotypes are part of the satire. The book also contains child abuse, violence, profanity and sexual language.

## What to expect

- Genre: Contemporary & literary
- Kind of humor: Dark comedy · Satire · Wordplay
- The atmosphere: Irreverent
- Format: Novel

## Sources & further reading

- Reading sample: [Authorized excerpt](https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-sellout/excerpt)
- Publisher: [Publisher and excerpt](https://academic.macmillan.com/academictrade/9781250808240/thesellout)
- Review: [Kirkus review](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/paul-beatty/the-sellout)