John Lavery, Miss Auras
Paul Beatty is the first American writer to win the Man Booker Prize, with his novel The Sellout, a scathing satire of US racial politics. The droll opening line of the novel sets the tone for the book: ‘This may be hard to believe, coming from a black man, but I’ve never stolen anything.’ Beatty’s protagonist – who goes only by his last name, Me – aims to affirm his African Americanism, shockingly and transgressively, by calling for a return to segregation and slavery.
