.png) First edition cover | |
| Author | Jason Mott |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Dutton |
Publication date | 2021 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 323 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0593330999 |
Hell of a Book[a] is a 2021 book byJason Mott. It won the 2021National Book Award for Fiction.[1]
In alternating chapters, the novel tells the stories of two different characters: a nameless novelist on tour for a book also titledHell of a Book, and an African-American child named Soot. Soot, who lives nearWhiteville,North Carolina, is being bullied on the school bus, while the novelist is troubled by visions of a child he calls "The Kid", who speaks to him and seemingly guides him through his issues.
TheStar-News said that with the novel, Mott earned "a place on the shelf beside such African-American writers asColson Whitehead andOctavia Butler".[2]
On November 17, 2021, the novel was awarded the 2021National Book Award for Fiction.[3] It was also longlisted for the 2022Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction,[4] the 2022Aspen Words Literary Prize,[5] and the 2022Joyce Carol Oates Prize.[6]
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