Why I wanted Paul Beatty's The Sellout to win so badly

At the beginning of this year, I finally made up my mind to binge read all my Booker Prize winning books sitting on my bookshelf.

My parents have been collecting Booker Prize, Nobel Prize for Literature, Neustadt International Prize for Literature winning and shortlisted books before I was born. They have not told me yet why they did this or why they stopped. But I think they gave up at a point when they began to pay school fees.

When I was admitted to the university at 16, my parents began to wean me on these books. I despised it then, I wanted to read cheeky romance books, John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell not some serious award-winning literature.

In 2014, after my service year. I was working a flexible job as a reporter and because I had too much time on my hands. I decided to give this prize-winning books another try.

After I read The Famished Road by Ben Okri. The storytelling left me speechless, I had not read anything like that. It wasn't fast paced, it was not a crime thriller, it was not something I was used to and that threw me off.

Then my journey to reading all Booker Prize books began.

Then I read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel back to back and I became a believer. I followed it with Penelope Lively's Moon Tiger, Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day and J.M Coetzee's Disgrace.

Although there are times I do wonder if these books were undeserving of the prize but they gave me what I want. Great storytelling and fiction that dealt in truth.

I was part of the prize-winning snobbish readers occult now. I only read winning books, I am not bothered with the shortlisted/ Longlisted titles. After all, if they were so good, they would have become winners right?

Then I decided to give it a chance this year, I took one week leave from work and my journey to reading all the shortlisted booker prize books began.

I started with Hot Milk by Deborah Levy. I don't care what everyone thinks. But I did not like this book, It reads like one of those pointless Facebook rants.

First of all, I have to say that the writing was of a fine literary quality. And her attempt to cover Hypochondria is commendable. However, her only stylistic flaw was her tendency to overwrite. I know Sofia is angry with her mum, Dad, Dr. Gomez and tired of life so what else??

The main problem with this book was its lack of both character development and plot. Mainly, the plot. I got to the end of the book not really sure what the point was. Quite frankly, I was expecting there to be more pages, because I didn't feel like the book had gone anywhere or come to any kind of conclusion yet.

Then I moved on to Eileeen by Ottessa Moshfegh. The author sure knows how to write; her prose is eloquent and sophisticated. Beautifully crafted story and a fantastic ending but still not my Booker Prize book.

Then I moved to Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien because this is what all my friends on Instagram were reading. Joining the bandwagon is usually not a bad thing.Like many others, I thought this book was utterly brilliant. The pleasure of reading it was palpable, and I shouted to the sky 'I think this is the book' when I finished. But I still have three books left.

Then I moved on to His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burne. Quick question to the author of this book, is this fiction or non-fiction? Quite frankly this is one of my favorite book of this year.  Such a beautiful psychological thriller, well-written and beautifully crafted.

All That Man Is by David Szalay was just an okay read for me. I really don't know how to rate this book, I feel conflicted because there are elements I loved on the one hand and other elements I disliked and found extremely frustrating and tedious on the other. But I will still rate it 4/5 though.

Finally, we arrive at my destination. The Sellout by Paul Beatty. To be honest, this was the last book I read and I still haven't gotten over it. This review may sound over the top, but, then, I confess to being THE SELLOUT  junkie, reading the book straight through five times on my Ipad, flipping through the pages, writing down favorite passages, re-reading some lines, again and again, finding peace in the rhythm of its prose.

I am sitting here absorbing it all, trying to think about what I should write. a process that will probably take too much time.

Here is it: The Sellout is a profoundly moving, brilliant book that will make you laugh, cry, snicker and then laugh again. I am not exaggerating the laughter, I laughed a lot. Mostly embarrassed crazy full frontal teeth showing laughter.

This book takes us through race relations and identity in America, repression, desire, political resistance, creativity, intellectual curiosity etc. etc.

Although the subplots and flashbacks were a bit annoying and downright silly, I managed to have a great time while reading them.

I backed this book for a Booker because the ending was too profound than anything leading up to it.

It is books like this one that gives me faith in literature and in good writing. The Sellout is a smartly written literary work that connects with the heart as well as the mind. Beatty has managed to do something that almost never happens: he created something frivolous and made it into a cultural phenomenon.

This is the reason why I will continue to look forward to the Man Booker prize every year. Without it, I may never have found this gem.

ALSO READ: Paul Beatty becomes the first American author to win with his book 'The Sellout'