Jenna Bush Hager has picked Jason Mott’s Hell of a Book as the latest selection for the Today show book club.
Mott’s novel, his fourth, follows a Black author on a book tour during which he’s accompanied by a child that may or may not be a figment of his imagination. A reviewer for Kirkus said the book, set for publication by Dutton on Tuesday, is “by turns playful and surprising and intimate, a moving meditation on being Black in America.”
“It is a timely exploration into what it means to be a Black man living in America,” Hager said. “It’s a beautiful story about family love and dedication to finding out who we are.”
Mott said the idea for the novel was inspired by his own 2013 book tour.
“It is a book that I tried to make very serious but also very lighthearted. I hope that people are able to laugh as much as they’re able to think,” Mott said. “I just want it to be a ride that people don’t forget about for a long time.”
Hager launched her popular book club in March of 2019. Previous selections have included Margaret Renkl’s Late Migrations, Megha Majumdar’s A Burning, and Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Malibu Rising.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
