NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Times they aren't a-changing

Other
27 Oct, 2016 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Paul Beatty says he believes The Sellout will push readers out of their comfort zone. Picture / AP

Paul Beatty says he believes The Sellout will push readers out of their comfort zone. Picture / AP

Paul Beatty's The Sellout, which this week won the Man Booker Prize, has been applauded for appearing as racial tensions threaten to tear America apart and the spectre of Donald Trump looms large. Yet the book, which made Beatty the first American to win the prestigious fiction award, was seven years in the writing.

The Sellout, a stinging satire of race and class in the United States that has drawn comparisons to Richard Pryor and Mark Twain, has won the Man Booker Prize.

Judges said Beatty's provocative book was a satire to rank with the classics, and as timely as the evening news.

Beatty sees things differently.

"People keep on referring to the timing of the book. I think it's nice to know it has some relevance," he told Judith Woods of the Daily Telegraph. "But to me, this is a book about shifting borders. Times don't really change.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"For some people, the racism issue is old news; for others, it's a wake-up call. We all pick and choose when we want to listen; when Obama goes on television and addresses the nation it forces certain people to pay attention to the police shootings, but there are communities where it's part of their everyday experience."

In this respect, the election of a black man not just once but twice to the White House appears to have made little difference to the institutionalised racism at the heart of the US.

"Obama was the president he said he would be, one who said he was going to assassinate bin Laden and reform healthcare," is Beatty's cryptic response. "He did a good job, but was there a new dawn? Let's just say that people might miss him at some level when the new incumbent settles in."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Beatty believes that Trump will lose, but points out that he has a real constituency in the country.

"Trump didn't come out of nowhere - he represents a part of America that's out there," he said. "We can't pretend it doesn't exist."

At Woods' suggestion that The Sellout can leave a reader thinking being black virtually constitutes a fulltime job, he laughed in agreement. "Yes, being black is a fulltime job: sometimes you are invisible, other times you are hyper-visible. Sometimes you are welcome, other times you are not. The thermostat is always moving and you have to keep adapting to find some comfort level. Richard Pryor used to talk about going to Africa and people there telling him he was white. Even though he was black, he just wasn't black enough."

Historian Amanda Foreman, who chaired the judging panel, said the book "plunges into the heart of contemporary American society, and with absolutely savage wit - the kind I haven't seen since [Jonathan] Swift or [Mark] Twain".

Discover more

Entertainment

Everything you need to know about the new Harry Potter film

27 Oct 03:00 AM
Entertainment

Author Jay McInerney writes the next chapter in bright lives

28 Oct 04:00 PM
New Zealand

Book review: Bright, Precious Days by Jay McInerney

28 Oct 04:00 PM

The Sellout is set in a rundown Los Angeles suburb called Dickens, where the residents include the last survivor of the Little Rascals and the book's narrator, Bonbon, an African-American man on trial at the US Supreme Court for attempting to reinstate slavery and racial segregation.

The book has been likened to the comedy of Pryor and Chris Rock, and Beatty goes where many authors fear to tread. Racial stereotypes, offensive speech and police killings of black men are all subject to his scathing eye.

Beatty acknowledged that The Sellout "was a hard book - both to read and to write - and would push readers out of their comfort zone".

"I knew people could misread the book really easily," he told reporters.

"I think people get caught up in certain words and their brains lock, certain ideas and their brains lock." Beatty was awarded the 50,000 pound ($85,380) prize by Prince Charles' wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a black-tie ceremony at London's medieval Guildhall.

"I don't want to get all dramatic, like writing saved my life," said 54-year-old Beatty, who has written three previous novels. "But writing's given me a life.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I'm just trying to create space for myself - hopefully that creates space for others," added the visibly emotional author as he accepted the prize.

Foreman said The Sellout, which mixes pop culture, philosophy and politics with humour and anger, sets out to "eviscerate every social taboo". "This is a book that nails the reader to the cross with cheerful abandon," she said. "That is why the book works - because while you're being nailed, you're being tickled."

The five judges met for a marathon four hours to choose the winner from among six finalists, whittled down from 155 submissions. Foreman said the decision for Beatty's work was unanimous.

- AP, Telegraph Group Ltd

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Most of England facing hosepipe ban as the big dry bites

World

UK heiress, partner found guilty over baby daughter’s death

World

Elmo’s hacked X account shares anti-Semitic, anti-Trump posts


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Most of England facing hosepipe ban as the big dry bites
World

Most of England facing hosepipe ban as the big dry bites

Telegraph: It's the driest first six months of the year in England since 1976.

14 Jul 11:02 PM
UK heiress, partner found guilty over baby daughter’s death
World

UK heiress, partner found guilty over baby daughter’s death

14 Jul 10:32 PM
Elmo’s hacked X account shares anti-Semitic, anti-Trump posts
World

Elmo’s hacked X account shares anti-Semitic, anti-Trump posts

14 Jul 10:18 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP