In the process of bringing over old posts from previous sites, I''ve come across old reviews. They''re not the same as the more recent ones, but I want to preserve them nevertheless. This was originally published on 1 June 2013.

Who is Bailey?

We'll never know. All we know is that Lionel Essrog...

The internet makes it all too easy to go hunting for the information that will make sense of a book or an author, and I am resolved not to do that. At least, not till I have finished this review. From that position of self-imposed ignorance, The Sellout is a brilliantly funny and cutting satire on race in America. Nothing is safe, no-one immune, no taboo out of bounds. Sex, music, drugs, intellectualism, passivity, crime. ...

I enjoy Dave Eggers' writing a lot, and this was no exception. He has a deft way of filling in the back story that I admire, and his treatment of the two young children seems to me absolutely accurate, poignant and touching and funny. The adventures that these heroes get into are many and varied and give a definite impression of how life just carries one along, given half a chance. Highly enjoyable.