OE Book Club | July | James

Held in person at Oxford Exchange on the second Tuesday of every month. This book club focuses on literary novels that stand the test of time and inspire thoughtful discussion.

Books are available in-person at the Oxford Exchange bookstore, or purchase through our online shop.

JAMES | Percival Everett

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.
When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.
While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

Upcoming Book Club Titles

• June Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
• July James by Percival Everett
• August Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez
• September House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• October Carrie by Stephen King
• November Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
• December Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Host or Publisher Oxford Exchange