Book Club: American Fiction

Read the book. Watch the film. Join the conversation. 

BOOK CLUB AT NFSA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ABC RADIO CANBERRA. 
Explore how culturally significant books have been adapted and reimagined as films in a new series of Book Club at NFSA. 

2023 | DCP | USA | D: Cord Jefferson  

American Fiction follows Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, a frustrated Black novelist who is fed up with the publishing industry’s stereotypes. Monk writes a deliberately clichéd ‘Black’ novel as a joke, only to see it become a runaway success that forces him to confront questions of identity, authenticity, and exploitation.

American Fiction blends sharp comedy with personal drama, following a man caught between artistic integrity and public appetite. The film focuses on character rather than argument and examines how culture shapes and distorts creative voices.

‘A bracing, intelligent satire that never forgets the human cost beneath the joke.’- Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

This screening will be followed by a discussion about the film as an adaptation of Percival Everett’s novel Erasure with 666AM ABC Radio Canberra presenter Alice Matthews and author Rhiân Williams, co-host of ABC Afternoons Book Corner Book Club.