The Trees by Percival Everett served with Fried Catfish, hushpuppies and Collard Greens.
This book! Not sure how to describe it- a mystery, a horror novel, a dark comedy. I'm just not sure. It leaves me a little speechless. I'm going to say it is brilliant. Here is how NPR described it- "It's a racial allegory grounded in history, shrouded in mystery, and dripping with blood. An incendiary device you don't want to put down." I think that covers it.
Back in December I was visiting with my sister in Sacramento and our friend Bill told me I had to read this book. He said it was the best book he read in 2021. In exchange, I told him to read my favorite book of 2021, Hamnet. It took me a while to get this from the library and I knew nothing about it. I started it and had to stop and look up the author. I wasn't familiar with him. Turns out he has published 30+ books and won so many awards that it would take a page to list them.
The book starts with a brutal murder in Money Mississippi. Next thing you know a 2nd murder, just like the first one , occurs and even has one of the same victims! (that victim disappeared from the first murder scene) 2 detectives are sent in from the MBI to support and it just gets weirder at that point. The murders are connected to the lynching of Emmett Till. I'm not sure I should say much else about the plot because it is better for you to go in unprepared. I will say this, Everett is having a lot of fun with the total racist white characters. Everything from the language (which was shocking at first and took a while to not flinch when I read it) to the names of the characters- Red Jetty, Junior Junior, Hot Mama Yellow, Pinch Wheyface. The only sane people in the book are the 2 black MBI detectives and the 1 female black FBI agent. The book is disturbing and gets a bit weird BUT it also had me laughing out loud a few times. It definitely has Quentin Tarantino vibes.
As soon as I finished the novel, I went and read every review I could find and then listened to 2 podcast where the author was interviewed. I felt like I needed to know more! I almost want to read it again because I read it so fast, I feel like I missed some stuff. I'll leave you with this- Read it! Be prepared to be disturbed and uncomfortable. But be prepared to be impressed! I'm betting this will be in my top 10 for the year. It is different from my normal reads and that makes me happy. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\
I knew I wanted to make catfish for this book. It is mentioned several times in the story and seems to be the fish of choice in MIssissippi. Took me a while to find catfish in Seattle but I did.
I found a recipe to make it in the air fryer and you know how much i love my air fryer! I gotta say that it was delicious! Here is the link https://thisoldgal.com/air-fryer-southern-fried-catfish/
I have never made hushpuppies or collard greens. The Collard greens were tough because most recipes have bacon in them. I'm trying not to eat bacon these days so I had some changes and it turned out great!
I had 2 bunches of collard greens. I tore them up so they were smaller pieces. Put a little bit of olive oil in a pan and sauteed 2 minced cloves of garlic and about a quarter of an onion diced up. I added the collard greens for a few minutes and then covered all of this with vegetable broth. Approximately 3 cups. I reached a boil and then cut it down to a simmer. I added in a few shakes of red pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Covered the pot and let it simmer for ~1 hour. it was so good!!
Here is the link to the hushpuppies were delicious but I wish I had cut the recipe in half. I had hushpuppies for days!! https://whiskitrealgud.com/homemade-hush-puppies-recipe/
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