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

[Mark Kohut]

Mark,

You can always write care of his American publisher. Although usually snail mail and time. 

When I am back home I can get a name or two maybe and send it to you offline. 

And he still publishes that magazine, right?, which submissions he reads? 

Mark

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 22, 2019, at 3:41 AM, Mark Thibodeau <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 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
> --
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