The winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize was announced Tuesday, bringing fame, glory and £50,000 ($61,000) to Paul Beatty for his novel The Sellout.
Beatty is the first American to win the prize, which was once limited to writers from the Commonwealth, Ireland and Zimbabwe, but since 2013 has been open to any author published in the English language in the U.K. The book satirizes race issues in America, focusing on a man whose woes (among them: the death of his father and gentrification) prompt him to bring back slavery and resegregate the school in his hometown.
“This is a book that nails the reader to the cross with cheerful abandon,” said Amanda Foreman, the chair of the judges. “But while you are being nailed you are being tickled.”
More Must-Reads From TIME
- What Wildfire Smoke Does to the Human Body
- Prince Harry Breaks Royal Convention to Testify in Court
- Teens Are Taking Wegovy for Weight Loss
- Elliot Page: Embracing My Trans Identity Saved Me
- How a Texas High Jumper Has Earned Nearly $1 Million
- What the Debt Ceiling Deal Means for Student Loan Borrowers
- How Past Lives Combines Memoir and Artistry
- 7 Ways to Get Better at Small Talk
