Percival Everett Can’t Say What his Novels Mean
Percival Everett
The author of “Erasure” is renowned for his satires of genre, identity, and America. But his great target may be language itself.
By Maya Binyam
March 11, 2024
In a narrow, windowless room at the University of Southern California, a group of graduate students is workshopping a short story. Its author is silent as her classmates deliver gentle feedback. Some suggest minor improvements of pacing, setting, and tone. One student would appreciate a more robust description of the protagonist’s emotions, but enjoys the sparseness, too. “I like this version,” another adds. “I don’t think I have much in the way of critique.”