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A virtual talk with National Book Award-winning author Jason Mott
VIRTUAL | After the event date, watch the talk any time through Library Speakers Consortium
New York Times bestselling author Jason Mott talks about his recent novel, Hell of a Book. This magnificent work of fiction is deeply honest, at times electrically funny, and is a book that goes to the heart of racism, police violence, and the hidden costs exacted on Black Americans and America as a whole.
In Hell of a Book, a Black author sets out on a cross-country publicity tour to promote his bestselling novel. That storyline drives Hell of a Book and is the scaffolding of something much larger and more urgent: Mott’s novel also tells the story of Soot, a young Black boy living in a rural town in the recent past, and The Kid, a possibly imaginary child who appears to the author on his tour.
A heartbreaking and magical book about family, art, money and America's recurring and tragic police violence that impacts what it means to be Black in America.
Unforgettably told, with an electrifying plot and characters who burn into your mind, Hell of a Book is the novel Mott has been writing for the last ten years and in its final twists, it truly becomes its title.
Jason Mott is the author of two poetry collections and four novels. His first novel, The Returned, was adapted for television and aired on ABC under the title "Resurrection." Since then, his novels that followed have received various accolades and acclaim. His most recent novel, Hell of a Book, won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, was a Carnegie Medals For Excellence longlist nominee, and the winner of the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction. He lives in hermitude in Southeastern North Carolina.
Explore Jason Mott in our collection
This live, virtual event is presented by BPL's digital resource, Library Speakers Consortium, which curates virtual presentations with top authors from around the world.
Register to attend this virtual talk live and submit questions in advance for the author.
