American FictionPEOPLE Review: Jeffrey Wright Is Brilliant in Hot-Button Comedy About a Black Novelist

Wright with costar Erika Alexander.Photo:Claire Folger

Claire Folger

At the very least, he’s a master of the slow burn.

In short, Monk needs to be more like Sintara Golden (the radiantIssa Rae), who’s written a runaway bestseller calledWe’s Lives in Da Ghetto.

Ellison, enraged, dashes off a parody,My Pafology,full of urban crime, poverty and profanity, and gets it published under the name Stagg R. Leigh (an allusion to the old Black folk ballad“Stagger Lee,”about a Black pimp and gambler who shoots and kills a man in a barroom).

LikeDa Ghetto, Pafologyis a sensation, praised for its unflinching authenticity — so authentic, it attracts the avid attention of Hollywood. But how will Monk publicize it? What face, in effect, does he dare present to the public?

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Orion Pictures

That goes forAmerican Fictiontoo. The ending is ingenious.

American Fictionis in theaters now.

source: people.com