Colored Television

A Novel

De: Danzy Senna

Narrado por: Kristen Ariza

A brilliant dark comedy about love and ambition, failure and reinvention, and the racial-identity-industrial complex from the bestselling author of Caucasia

Jane has high hopes that her life is about to turn around. After a long, precarious stretch bouncing among sketchy rentals and sublets, she and her family are living in luxury for a year, house-sitting in the hills above Los Angeles. The gig magically coincides with Jane’s sabbatical, giving her the time and space she needs to finish her second novel—a centuries-spanning epic her artist husband, Lenny, dubs her “mulatto War and Peace.” Finally, some semblance of stability and success seems to be within her grasp.

But things don’t work out quite as hoped. Desperate for a plan B, like countless writers before her Jane turns her gaze to Hollywood. When she finagles a meeting with Hampton Ford, a hot producer with a major development deal at a streaming network, he seems excited to work with a “real writer,” and together they begin to develop “the Jackie Robinson of biracial comedies.” Things finally seem to be going right for Jane—until they go terribly wrong.

Funny, piercing, and compulsively listenable, Colored Television is Senna’s most on-the-pulse, ambitious, and rewarding novel yet.

©2024 Danzy Senna (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"[A] brilliant, of-the-moment, just really almost perfect book."—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED

“A complex and satisfying portrait of a woman struggling with the categories that define her.”–Publishers Weekly

"I couldn’t stop turning the pages, and only when it was all over did I realize what Senna had done. Addictive, hilarious and relatable, yes, but Colored Television is after something larger and more elusive, a very modern reckoning with the ambiguities triangulated by race, class, creativity and love. She nails it."—Miranda July, author of All Fours and The First Bad Man

Brilliant!

I couldn’t get enough of this story BUT it’s never wanted it to end, it was satisfying in every way a book should be. The narration was perfection! MUAH! *chefs kiss”💋

Mid

Unfortunately, the author failed to make me care about the main character until the book was almost over. I spent most of the book rooting for the main character to fail because she’s a liar, a cheat, and overall pathetic.

thought provoking

so many things I just had no grasp of. I am so glad I shared in Jane's ourney

Suffer for your art?

What a great book! Ms. Senna takes you into the world of a pair of struggling creatives, one of whom gets sucked into the lure of a "better" life (i.e., upper middle class society). Well written with excellent character development, the story nicely interweaves karma into the story. I savored this one!

the story

It's about how certain people live and how we are striving and struggling to better for ourselves

Meh

The book fell flat and lacked a lot of depth to me. The themes of being biracial only scratched the surface it could’ve. I kept waiting for more but didn’t love this one.

Not Perfect, But Perfect for Discussion

"Colored Television by Danzy Senna left me with mixed feelings. There were moments where the story dragged, and I found myself checking how much was left. But then, just as I’d start to lose interest, it would hook me back in with a sharp observation or an unexpected turn. The book explores a lot of complex themes that kept me thinking, and I can see it sparking some lively conversations, especially in a book club setting. If you enjoy stories that leave you with questions to unpack, this one’s worth the read!"

Liars are weak

I loved the concept of the book, biracial people and their own racial injustice. The lies Jane told I couldn’t understand

Nice story

Although this wasn’t my most favorite book, I’ve listened to this year. I did enjoy it. There are a couple parts. I found a little what are we doing? Where is this going but in the end it wrapped up and it made sense.

I'm exhausted

This was a very difficult read/listen. I actually experienced anxiety as the tale kept unwinding. And when it came to a vanilla end, I was actually relieved even though the ending was not particularly satisfying. The narrator was excellent.