Most of you know that my artwork is abstract, esoteric, surreal, and I hope, playful; and does not speak to everyone in the same way. The newly published novel, “A Hell of a Book” by Jason Mott is of the same ilk. It is just in time for the shorter days and cooler temperatures, when you may wish to curl up with a book, your favorite beverage and warm blanket, in front of a fireplace if you have one and make yourself invisible so you can read in peace. The protagonist, Soot, is taught at a young age to hide, to make himself invisible. He is of a very dark and beautiful skin, but teased and taunted his whole life because of his blackness by intolerant people. As an adult in the first chapter, we catch Soot running on floor 4 of a hotel naked, chased by the husband of the woman who caught them in his room. He makes it safely back to his room and the story rolls from there to his childhood as a 9 year old black boy being taught the riggers of living with dark skin in this hateful world. The story is a wonder, going places you would never imagine as this young man becomes a favored, sought after author of his best seller-“A Hell of a Book.” Among so many other stories and themes, we follow him on his book signing tour, meeting people, falling in love, getting in trouble, troubled, and haunted by the “kid” reminiscent of George Floyd but younger, shot dead because of his skin tone.
Jason Mott is a skilled writer and this is not his first book. He is poetic and a poet as well. I am most taken by his skills in expression through his prose, a glowing and visual description of his father’s death, (Too long to share in this blog), his memories learning to become “invisible” and why this is significant.
A sample passage expressing his fear of the bully on the school bus, creating for him, terrible angst on a daily basis;
“Soot. Four little letters that hung around his neck like a lodestone. So every day as he watched the school bus come rumbling along the dirt road toward him, he shuffled his feet and chanted a mantra over and over again: “Don’t let them see you. Don’t let them see you.” Even though he knew all the talk of The Unseen wasn’t true, he was still child enough to want to believe that it was true.”
The book also offers a spoof on the publishing world and book signing tours, the trials of publishing, the strange and rigorous (even silly) training course for author book signing tours, celebrities he meets on the way and so many more surprises. For more reviews, google Hell of a Book reviews and see in more depth why I am taken by this novel.