DECEMBER 2023 - AudioFile
Narrator Amir Abdullah is completely and blithely "Not Sidney Poitier" in this paradoxical pretzel of an audio. Not Sidney's mother died when he was 11, leaving him with his nonsensical name and a fortune in Turner Broadcasting System stock. Abdullah illuminates his struggles as he grows to manhood with a flexible and highly stylized performance. As Not Sidney faces episodes of racism, classism, and sometimes outright rage at his confusing name and surprising background, Abdullah keeps the character grounded with a narration that is staccato and dryly witty. In contrast, the people around him often have exaggerated accents and wildly flamboyant vocal mannerisms that Abdullah tackles with flair. His version of Ted Turner, equal parts charm and baffling non sequiturs, is a standout. N.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
Driven by the most sidesplitting dialogue this side of Catch-22, Everett's latest tells the story of a young man named Not Sidney Poitier who bears an uncanny resemblance to the famed actor and is adept at deploying a hypnotic technique called Fesmerism. When Not Sidney is young, his mother dies, but not before becoming an early investor in Ted Turner's enterprises. The boy then moves to Atlanta, into the home of Ted Turner. Despite his vast wealth and celebrity looks, when Not Sidney ventures out into the world as a young adult, he faces bizarre, stinging and potentially deadly forms of racism. While Not Sidney comes across as a likable and thoughtful soul, he's the perfect foil for the fictionalized Turner's stream-of-consciousness non sequiturs ("I've never been struck by lightning. You?") as well as the logical absurdities that pepper the speech of his university professor who happens to be named Percival Everett. Not only is the novel smart and without a trace of pretentiousness, it shows Everett as a novelist at the height of his narrative and satirical powers. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Reviews
Everett (The Water Cure, 2007, etc.) returns with what might be considered a wacky slapstick. His allegory about race, class and celebrity takes a turn toward the silly, as the protagonist's name-literally, "Not Sidney Poitier"- inspires all sorts of Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" riffing. ("Knot, with a k?"..."Not with a k" . . . "That's what I said" . . . "N-O-T" . . . "Sidney?" . . . "Not my name is not Sidney. My name is Not Sidney.") Not Sidney is an orphan, born to a crazy woman following a 24-month pregnancy. Yet his late mother was wiser than most of the other characters the young innocent will encounter in his wildly absurd travels across the American South. At least she had the good sense to invest early and often in the Turner Broadcasting System, leaving her son so rich he does not know the extent of his fortune. Since Not Sidney never knew his father, the two formative figures in his life are Ted Turner, who takes him in after his mother's death, and Percival Everett, a buffoon of a professor who spouts nonsense as higher sense. (The standard disclaimer, that "this novel is NOT in any way a depiction of anyone living, dead or imagined by anyone other than the author," is followed by a rather more unusual corollary: "This qualification applies, equally, to the character whose name is the same as the author's.") Turner and Everett rescue Not Sidney when he, like Huck Finn, attempts to light out for the territory and lands in the racist backwoods of Peckerwood County and Smuteye, Ala. Yet Not Sidney encounters racism in subtler ways, such as when a prospective girlfriend's parents dismiss him as too dark until the extent of his fortune reveals him to be plenty lightenough. The author had some fun; the reader will too.
From the Publisher
Percival Everett is a genius. He's a brilliant writer and so damn smart I envy him.” —Terry McMillan
“Percival Everett has made a career out of flouting expectations . . . [forging] a nervy, caustic body of work that defies easy categorization . . . [The Water Cure] is one of the most elliptical, eccentric protest novels you're ever likely to read.” —Los Angeles Times
AudioFile
Narrator Amir Abdullah is completely and blithely ‘Not Sidney Poitier’… Abdullah keeps the character grounded with a narration that is staccato and dryly witty…His version of Ted Turner, equal parts charm and baffling non sequiturs, is a standout.”
DECEMBER 2023 - AudioFile
Narrator Amir Abdullah is completely and blithely "Not Sidney Poitier" in this paradoxical pretzel of an audio. Not Sidney's mother died when he was 11, leaving him with his nonsensical name and a fortune in Turner Broadcasting System stock. Abdullah illuminates his struggles as he grows to manhood with a flexible and highly stylized performance. As Not Sidney faces episodes of racism, classism, and sometimes outright rage at his confusing name and surprising background, Abdullah keeps the character grounded with a narration that is staccato and dryly witty. In contrast, the people around him often have exaggerated accents and wildly flamboyant vocal mannerisms that Abdullah tackles with flair. His version of Ted Turner, equal parts charm and baffling non sequiturs, is a standout. N.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
