Holy crap. Just reading Beatty's The Sellout, and I've come across a pretty egregious error.

[Mark Thibodeau]

Josh... you're killing me dude!

Which movie do you think a black author, writing as a black character,
in a novel about the black experience in California, would consider
risible and worthy of critique?

CRASH (1996) a Canadian drama film based on J. G. Ballard's 1973 novel
of the same name. It tells the story of a group of people who take
sexual pleasure from car crashes.
or
CRASH (2004) an American drama film produced, directed, and co-written
by Paul Haggis. The film features racial and social tensions in Los
Angeles.

Anyhoo, maybe let's leave it at that for now? If anyone has a way to
contact Paul Beatty or his editor/publisher/publicist or something,
please let me know.

YOPJerky

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On Sat, Jun 22, 2019 at 3:24 AM Jochen Stremmel <jstremmel at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Of course: sorry if I was mistaken. I remembered some reviews and that the protagonist wants to reestablish slavery on his farm and obviously couldn't imagine that a black man would want to do that. But taking in account what one of the Man Booker judges said
>
> "The Sellout is one of those very rare books that is able to take satire, which is in itself a very difficult subject and not always done well, and [...] both manages to eviscerate every social taboo and politically correct, nuanced, every sacred cow, and while both making us laugh, making us wince."
>
> it's definitely possible – and possible, too, that such a man takes another point of view regarding Crash than you. And you winced, didn't you?
>
> Am Sa., 22. Juni 2019 um 08:37 Uhr schrieb Mark Thibodeau <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com>:
>>
>> The excerpt is from the stream of consciousness of the main character
>> of The Sellout, who is most definitely black.
>>
>> Can I ask what gave you the impression that the main character of The
>> Sellout isn't black?
>>
>> On Sat, Jun 22, 2019 at 2:25 AM Jochen Stremmel <jstremmel at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Haven't read it but you're aware that the "I" is not Beatty and not black? Perhaps Beatty wouldn't even call Eggers a condescending do-gooder.
>> >
>> > Am Sa., 22. Juni 2019 um 06:45 Uhr schrieb David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>:
>> >>
>> >> Like you, I wasn't aware of this "blacks" taboo.  I can't object because
>> >> I'm not black.  This dynamic is silly, and makes Trump great for idiots.
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 10:32 PM Mark Thibodeau <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > Not sure where you're going with this, or what you mean, exactly.
>> >> >
>> >> > That phrase ("the blacks") only appears in my email as a direct quote
>> >> > of Beatty's text.
>> >> >
>> >> > Beatty is an African American author, in case you weren't aware.
>> >> >
>> >> > You should read The Sellout. It's fantastic, unfair attack on David
>> >> > Cronenberg notwithstanding.
>> >> >
>> >> > YOPJerky
>> >> >
>> >> > On Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 10:33 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Very recently I was informed (online) that "blacks" is an offensive
>> >> > term. "Black people" is OK, though.  This semantic rule seems to be just
>> >> > what the PC police are looking for.
>> >> > >
>> >> > > David Morris
>> >> > >
>> >> > > On Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 8:58 PM Mark Thibodeau <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com>
>> >> > wrote:
>> >> > >>
>> >> > >> And this, my friends, is an example of precisely what I was afraid
>> >> > >> might happen actually happening.
>> >> > >>
>> >> > >> Let me explain...
>> >> > >>
>> >> > >> On page 95, Beatty writes:
>> >> > >>
>> >> > >> "The only certainties I had about the African-American condition were
>> >> > >> that we had no concept of the phrases too sweet and too salty. And in
>> >> > >> ten years, through countless California cruelties and slights against
>> >> > >> the blacks, the poor, the people of color, like Propositions 8 and
>> >> > >> 187, the disappearance of social welfare, David Cronenberg's Crash and
>> >> > >> Dave Eggers's do-gooder condescension, I hadn't spoken a single word."
>> >> > >>
>> >> > >> I'm sure I probably don't have to point this out to too many of you
>> >> > >> here on the P-list, but Beatty can't possibly mean Cronenberg's 1996
>> >> > >> film in this context. He must be referring to Paul Haggis's 2006
>> >> > >> Academy Award-winning mediocrity. And now his error is immortalized in
>> >> > >> the printed word, in a very popular novel, indeed.
>> >> > >>
>> >> > >> SHIT!
>> >> > >>
>> >> > >> I haven't been able to find Beatty on social media at all. Is there
>> >> > >> any way to contact him to let him know, so that maybe the error can be
>> >> > >> corrected in future editions? It IS a pretty serious error, after all.
>> >> > >>
>> >> > >> Cheers,
>> >> > >> yer old pal Jerky
>> >> > >> --
>> >> > >> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >> >
>> >> --
>> >> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l