I Am Not Sidney Poitier

A Novel

De: Percival Everett

Narrado por: Amir Abdullah

I Am Not Sidney Poitier is an irresistible comic novel from the master storyteller Percival Everett

I was, in life, to be a gambler, a risk-taker, a swashbuckler, a knight. I accepted, then and there, my place in the world. I was a fighter of windmills. I was a chaser of whales. I was Not Sidney Poitier.

Not Sidney Poitier is an amiable young man in an absurd country. The sudden death of his mother orphans him at age eleven, leaving him with an unfortunate name, an uncanny resemblance to the famous actor, and, perhaps more fortunate, a staggering number of shares in the Turner Broadcasting Corporation.

Percival Everett's hilarious new novel follows Not Sidney's tumultuous life, as the social hierarchy scrambles to balance his skin color with his fabulous wealth. Maturing under the less-than watchful eye of his adopted foster father, Ted Turner, Not gets arrested in rural Georgia for driving while black, sparks a dinner table explosion at the home of his manipulative girlfriend, and sleuths a murder case in Smut Eye, Alabama, all while navigating the recurrent communication problem: "What's your name?" a kid would ask. "Not Sidney," I would say. "Okay, then what is it?"

©2009 Percival Everett (P)2023 Tantor

The title says it all

I like this author. I listened to “James” and I was hooked. So I tried “not Sidney” and I wasn’t disappointed.

Clever, humerous story skillfully narrated

Everett delivers an outstanding novel with skillful humor woven around characters and events of the mid-twentieth century in the South.

Bizarre story with humor and terror interwoven throughout. Highly enjoyable!

Bizarre story with humor and terror interwoven throughout. This story was extremely enjoyable! I am now hooked wanting to read more by Everett.

This might be my favorite book of 2025.

This is my first PE book. I am delighted, obsessed and want to consume every single thing he’s ever written. Surreal, deep, amusing and you feel like you’re in on the joke, with some very gimlet eyed observations about identity and race in America.

The ins and outs of the storyline and the humor

Humorous twists of the characters, geographically interesting, Everett’s understanding and subtle historical references. Loads of fun