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I Am Not Sidney Poitier

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About this listen

I Am Not Sidney Poitier is a comic tour de force from the Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of The Trees, Dr No and Erasure (adapted into an Oscar-nominated film).

The sudden death of Not Sidney Poitier’s mother orphans him at age eleven. He is left with a name no one understands, an uncanny resemblance to an Oscar-winning actor, and serious amount of shares in the Turner Corporation.

Percival Everett’s novel follows Not Sidney’s tumultuous life, as the social hierarchy scrambles to balance his skin colour with his fabulous wealth. Maturing under the less than watchful eye of his adopted foster father, Ted Turner, Not Sidney learns to navigate a world that doesn’t know what to do with him.

Part of the Picador Collection, a series celebrating fifty years of Picador books and showcasing the best of modern literature.

Read Percival's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel James in paperback now.

 Absurdist African American Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Fostering

Critic reviews

A hilarious and heart-breaking story of class and race
The most sidesplitting dialogue this side of Catch-22 . . . 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
[A] hilarious strut through the badlands of race and class
Percival Everett adds another unique and entertaining new novel to his collection of fiction with I Am Not Sidney Poitier. Readers can expect the tongue-in-cheek writing style and off-the-wall energy characteristic of Everett . . . Everett succeeds in presenting a comical yet thought-provoking novel that questions the line separating reality from fiction
All stars
Most relevant
I loved the forthrightness, humour and observations of the narrator, his dialogue with other characters, the playfulness of the connections to Sidney Poitier films - and the plot is brilliant.

Humorous, complex and a gripping plot

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A tale written with great humour and satirical skill, absolutely page turning, captures the black expression and experience in a way that unimaginable.

Absolutely Genius

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I loved the characters and the story, I am a recent finder of this author and have loved everything I’ve read of his so far

Great story, very clever

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I enjoyed this book. It's a wacky adventure that explores some big topics in a very interesting way, due to the innocence of the main character. There's lots of "madness" and serious non-seriousness (lol), thanks to some, let's say, colourful characters! I definitely recommend this book. It's an addictive read!

A good, and a bit crazy, read!

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I enjoyed the audio book from start to finish. I was laughing to myself looking quite ridiculous but enjoyed every moment of the book and then had to listen to it all over again. Pure genius funny beyond words I’m looking forward to listening to another of his novels as the first two I’ve listened to are absolutely awesome

Not Sydney Potier - what a boy and what a man

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