Club Book Episode 138 Jason Mott

Jason Mott is the pen behind Hell of a Book, winner of the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly described Mott’s modern masterpiece as “a cinematic novel that tackles what it means to live in a country where Black people live life under the hanging sword of fear.” In alternating and ultimately intertwined narratives, Hell of a Book follows the cross-country publicity junket of an eccentric novelist, and the tale of a young Black boy whose world is turned upside down by a heinous (but all-too-common) episode of police violence. In addition to the National Book Award laurel, Hell of a Book won the prestigious Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction and was selected by The Today Show for the popular #ReadWithJenna book club in July 2021. Mott’s prior novels include his 2013 debut The Returned. It served as the basis for the high-concept fantasy drama series Resurrection, produced by Brad Pitt for ABC Studios.

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