Hell of a Book
{{Short description|2021 novel by Jason Mott}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title =
| name = Hell of a Book
| image = Hell of a Book (Jason Mott).png
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| caption = First edition cover
| author = Jason Mott
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| country = United States
| language = English
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| publisher = Dutton
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| pub_date = 2021
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| pages = 323 pp
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| isbn = 978-0593330999
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Hell of a Book{{efn|The full title of the novel is Hell of a Book: Or the Altogether Factual, Wholly Bona Fide Story of a Big Dreams, Hard Luck, American-Made Mad Kid.}} is a 2021 book by Jason Mott. It won the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction.
Plot summary
In alternating chapters, the novel tells the stories of two different characters: a nameless novelist on tour for a book also titled Hell of a Book, and an African-American child named Soot. Soot, who lives near Whiteville, North Carolina, is being bullied on the school bus, while the novelist is troubled by visions of a child he calls "The Kid", who speaks to him and seemingly guides him through his issues.
Reception
The Star-News said that with the novel, Mott earned "a place on the shelf beside such African-American writers as Colson Whitehead and Octavia Butler".{{cite news |title = Wilmington-area author uses Black experience to pen 'Hell of a Book' |first = Ben |last = Steelman |newspaper = Star-News |date = July 17, 2021 |url = https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/lifestyle/2021/07/17/wilmington-area-writer-jason-mott-uses-black-experience-hell-book/7979656002/ |access-date = April 19, 2022}}
On November 17, 2021, the novel was awarded the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction.{{cite web |title = National Book Awards 2021 |url = https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2021/ |access-date = April 19, 2022 |website = National Book Foundation}} It was also longlisted for the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction,{{cite web |title = 2022 Winners |url = https://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/carnegie-medals/2022-winners |access-date = April 19, 2022 |website = American Library Association}} the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize,{{cite web |title = Announcing the Longlist for the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize |date = November 10, 2021 |url = https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/announcing-the-longlist-for-the-2022-aspen-words-literary-prize/ |access-date = April 19, 2022 |website = Aspen Institute}} and the 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize.{{cite web |title = 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Longlist |url = https://www.newliteraryproject.org/whats-new/2022-joyce-carol-oates-prize-longlist |website = The New Literary Project |access-date = April 19, 2022}}
Notes
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References
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{{NBA for Fiction 2000–2024}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Novels set in North Carolina
Category:National Book Award for Fiction–winning works
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