Hell of a Book by Jason Mott *****

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott is ostensibly about a nameless author’s book tour for Hell of a Book. He is accompanied by The Kid, an invisible black boy. Alternate chapters feature Soot, a black boy whose parents want to teach him to be invisible to keep him safe. Throughout the tour, the news reports a black boy killed by the police and Soot sees the police kill his father in his front yard. Much of this book is about black parents protecting their children and how they feel when they fail. “Your mama, she wanted to protect you. Protect you from bullets. Protect you from cops. Protect you from judges. Protect you from mirrors that you would look into and see something less than beautiful.”

This book won the National Book Award for fiction in 2021.

“I don’t have much use for reality in my line of work.”

“But it’s only a fall if you think about the ending. Otherwise, it’s called flying.”

“Yeah, the South is America’s longest-running crime scene. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.”

“Lastly, a message to the Black boy that was: You are beautiful. Be kind to yourself, even when this country is not.”

Parents give their black children contradictory advice: “Treat people as people. Be color-blind. Love openly. Love everyone.” And then, in the same breath, he would have to say to his son: “You will be treated differently because of your skin. The rules are different for you. This is how you act when you meet the police. This is how you act growing up in the South. This is the reality of your world.”

Comment on healthy lifestyle and nutritional advice: “But only certain tax brackets get the luxury of knowing something’ll kill you and being able to choose not to do it.”

“And every Black parent in the history of this country has tried to stop that monster from swallowing [their children] up and has failed at it. And every day they live with that.”

“Specifically, don’t write about being Black. … It’s common courtesy, really. … So here’s what I want you to do: I want you to make sure that you keep things as light as possible.”

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