Every Writer Should See "American Fiction"

Geoffrey Wright’s college professor in American Fiction has a problem many writers face in today’s insanely crowded publishing marketplace: his novels don’t sell.

And it’s not just because he rewrites Ancient Greek stories, it’s because editors don’t think he’s representing “The Black Experience.” What that really means is he’s not writing stereotypical lowest-common-denominator books filled with poverty, violence, and obscenity.

So out of envy, frustration, and as a kind of a fuck-you joke, he writes a novel titled My Pafology, spelled that way because My Pathology isn’t “Black” enough. His agent is appalled and says it couldn’t possibly sell. Of course it does, for a huge advance—and the movie rights go for millions.

Wright has inadvertently made a deal with the publishing devils and he gets deeper and deeper enmeshed in the fantasy. The author he pretends to be—in a spur-of-the-moment invention—is supposedly a fugitive from justice. That explains his never appearing on camera.

This scathing satire of racism and pandering in the publishing industry blends brilliantly with family drama: a mother sinking into Alzheimer’s, an aggressive brother who’s just decided to come out, a loving sister who can tell him who he really is, and a father who committed suicide. There’s even a budding romance and it’s all offered with thoughtful, real dialogue, characters who are deep and complicated, and an evocative score.

Oh, and there’s a dazzling surprise ending too.

Writers and wannabe writers will likely be struck by the hazards of being any kind of author at all and wonder if the same good or bad karma might affect what they publish.

Lev Raphael has published 27 books in many genres with boutique houses like Marge Piercy’s Leapfrog Press and industry giants like Doubleday. His work has appeared in 15 languages and been widely taught in universities.

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