Erasure

A worthy successor to Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, the novel fleshes out the voids that Thelonius Monk leaves in his music. It shows the unfortunate fact that most people are more comfortable with a fictionalized stereotype than with complicated reality.

This book presented the rare scenario where I saw the film adaptation before reading the book. The film presented a story of the black experience so compelling I had to read the source material. To be clear, the story of Thelonious “Monk” Ellison is a great one no matter what the medium. That said, the stream of consciousness perspective available in the book removes a layer from the already complex onion that while also adding more mystery to Monk. Monk’s as represented in “Erasure” is so personally illuminating. Specifically in how it tells the story of a type of black man who cuts across the grain of the commonly held stereotype. What’s worse is that to be seen, Monk must play up the stereotype. This act of creating leads to an erasure of his own sense of identity as a writer. This contradiction doubles the initial erasure that happens because he does not fit into society’s mold. I know this conundrum too well. Beyond the personal pull, the pacing, tone, language, and characters make this experience so engaging. You can smell, taste, and touch the awkward, contentious, and loving moments at every turn. I came away appreciating the film even more for its excellent interpretation of the original. The witty humor is unexpected but roaringly funny. It glues together the larger commentary that calls out the joke that is the publishing industry’s and the broader society’s measure of what is “authentic.” For those looking for a reason to read “ Erasure” after watching the film, just know that Percival Everett placed land mines in the plot of the novel that were surprisingly left out from the movie. So in some ways it is a new experience.

Everett has a way of taking our cultural uncomfortability and grinding it into the sharpest piercing thing it needs to be. A master-work of form bending and lacework narrative. One of the best of this century!