NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Jason Mott's first novel since 鈥淗ell of a Book鈥� is a kind of meta-sequel to his award-winning meta-narrative about a Black author's haunting promotional tour.
The Penguin Random House imprint Dutton announced Thursday that it has reached a deal with Mott for 鈥淧eople Like Us,鈥� in which a 鈥減rize-winning Black author鈥� embarks on a global book tour that finds him experiencing everything from invisibility and time travel to sea monsters and peacocks. 鈥淗ell of a Book," published in 2021, won the National Book Award for fiction and was chosen for Jenna Bush Hager's 鈥淭oday鈥� show book club.
鈥淧eople Like Us鈥� is scheduled for release next fall.
鈥樷�淧eople Like Us' originally began as a memoir. I was attempting to sort through some of the impactful experiences I had both as an author and as a teacher recently, and over the last few years," Mott said in a statement. 鈥淎fter a few false starts, I came to realize that, for me, exploring truth requires the framework of fiction. When I returned to the page with that understanding about myself and how I try to create art, I found the characters from 鈥橦ell Of A Book' waiting for me, with new heartaches and joys they wanted to share.鈥�
Mott's other books include the novels 鈥淭he Returned鈥� and 鈥淭he Calling鈥� and poetry collection 鈥淲e Call This Thing Between Us Love.鈥�
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
