Paul Beatty: The Sell-Out

Well this is quite a book. An amazingly sharp and savage, and often side-splittingly funny satire on race in America...not perhaps in itself the easiest topic but this amazing writer does it. It is as blackly extreme as Swift at his most savage as the conceit is that an African-American decides to re introduce segregation in the part of LA that he lives. To say more would spoil it but it is marvellously fluently and freely written with a relish and love of language ( and a very subtle appreciation of how it works and what it can do, that makes it very easy to read without being superficially shallow.

And there are some great puns and jokes as well; think a favourite was his line, when very high in the Supreme Court (yes!) that said he was able to 'kill two burdens with one stoner'!.

A deserved winner I reckon for the Man Booker...although not read other nominations.