Humor, horror and social commentary blend in Percival Everett's detective novel

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Arts, Books

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2022

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Percival Everett's page-turning new detective novel is at once gruesome and screamingly funny. A racial allegory rooted in southern history, the book features two big-city special detectives with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation who are sent to investigate a small town crime. The murders are hideous in detail, the language is rough, there are racial epithets of all kinds, and somehow the politically incendiary humor is real. Everett talks with NPR's Scott Simon about how — and why — he blended these styles.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaung. Percival Everett's new book, The Trees,
0:08.0	is a darkly funny detective novel that deals with race and violence in a really up-front sort of way.
0:15.9	In book reviewers speak, I can see someone calling it unflinching or raw or, you know, maybe harrowing.
0:22.2	But it's a little more coy than that. You can hear it all in this interview with Scott Simon
0:26.9	too. I mean, there's one part where Scott sets up a complex question that ends with him asking,
0:32.6	are you stereotyping white Southerners? And Percival just goes, yeah, it's a funny exchange that then turns into a frank discussion about fairness and justice that, well, you can just hear it for yourself.
0:47.1	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors. On our new show,
0:57.4	Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:02.3	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR
1:08.0	app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:17.1	Support for NPR and the following message come from Metro, who wants riders to know the transit system is ready for their return. With improved air filtration on buses, trains, and in stations,
1:22.7	fresh air is circulated from outside every three minutes. And thanks to touchless payment, riders can now use
1:28.6	their smartphones wherever smart trip is accepted. Find out more about all the ways Metro is doing its
1:34.0	part to ensure riders can ride confident at WMATA.com slash doing our part. Special detectives Ed Morgan
1:43.2	and Jim Davis are the big city heat from Hattiesburg.
1:47.9	They're with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and they're in the small town of money to investigate the murder of two men,
1:54.7	the back room of the same shotgun-style house. One, a white man is disfigured in a way so gruesome. We can't tell you without a trigger
2:03.8	warning, if you please. The other, a black man, seems to just walk out of the morgue. The Trees is a novel
2:12.2	by Percival Everett, the author of more than 30 books and the recipient of a Gugganah.
2:17.4	He joins us now from South Pasadena, California.
2:19.9	Thank you so much for being with us.
2:22.0	Thanks for having me.
	...

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