Hell of a Book by Jason Mott is a brave exploration of Blackness from the perspective of a successful author on book tour who is enamored with a funeral director/undertaker, a young boy who haunts him, and a boy (who may be the same boy or not) who is shot down by police. While reading the novel, I often thought that these three characters were the same person. But not always.

At times funny, the book asks again and again, what does it mean to be Black in America in 2021, what does it mean to be successful and Black, or successfully Black. It also explores ways of telling a story, shifting perspectives and voices and pulling them together in the same story.