Victor LaValle's The Ballad of Black Tom revisits H.P. Lovecraft's short story The Horror at Red Hook, but from the point of view of a young black man living in 1920s New York. Far from being a straightforward tribute, the novella is instead an interrogation of Lovecraft's complicated legacy, taking on the racism present in the horror writer's work and flipping it in clever, complex, and sobering ways. We review the book and discuss how it manages to pack so much within its compact space. Then in Footnotes, we talk about looking at old books through new eyes.

Produced by: Lee Chwi Lynn, Sharmilla Ganesan

Presented by: Lee Chwi Lynn, Sharmilla Ganesan

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Categories:  literature

Tags:  the ballad of black tom,  Victor LaValle,  evening edition,  by the book,  racism,  horror,  novella,  h.p. lovecraft,