The main character is scholarly writer named Thelonius Ellison. In the novel he goes by his nickname “Monk”. The story follows him as decides to write the novel, My Pafology, as a parody of the popular African American novels like We’s Lives in da Ghetto by reworking the Richard Wright novel, Native Son. Novels like this one reflect the negative stereotypes of African American such as being impoverished, uneducated, and dangerous. He does not expect it to be published but it is. The reception to the novel astounds him. Although he disapproves of the literature, he creates the rough persona of Stagg R. Leigh to generate authenticity for his novel. The novel follows him as he deals with the outcomes of publishing that story. The novel also presents how Monk handles his mother’s Alzheimer’s disease, his brother’s transition from a married heterosexual male into a single gay man, and his sister’s death. The money Monk receives allows him to take care of his mother as she slowly begins to deteriorate from her condition. The novel reaches its peak when My Pafology (renamed Fuck) is nominated for an award of which Monk is on the panel. The other panelists see the work as a visionary and authentic portrayal of African American life and, as a result, the novel wins the award. At the award ceremony with everyone expects Stagg R. Leigh to appear, Monk goes up on stage. Reminiscent of the ending of My Pafology, the novel concludes with him saying, “Egads, I’m on television” (Everett 265).
Erasure is a postmodern text because it is a pastiche with some parody elements of other books. The author includes F/V, his response essay to S/Z by Roland Barthas, as well as his mini novel, My Pafology. The novel features a fractured narrative by splitting the story into sections that are loosely connected to one another even if they do not appears to. The white/black binary is deconstructed. The novel also reflects how ideas are recycled all the time such as how Monk redoes Native Son with his parody.
Word Count: 345
References
Everett, Percival. Erasure: A Novel. New York: Hyperion, 2001. Print.
Polar Opposites: A Study of the Binaries 
When I first read “Erasure” I was having a hard time viewing it as a postmodern text, however I instantly was able to point out the use of the stereotypically binaries. After reading this blog I was better able to see how this novel is in fact a postmodern story and I really liked the level of detail to which you went into describing it. Awesome Emily! Loved this post!
The summary seems to outweigh the analysis a little bit here – could you expand on some of these ideas a bit? Why is it important to note that this is a postmodern text, for instance?
It is important to note that Erasure is a postmodern text because it allows the novel to approach the white/black binary from a couple of directions. You get to see Monk’s attitude about the representation of African Americans in literature even as he makes money off of his version of this. You get to see Van Go Jenkin’s story, told in dialect, playing up to the negative portrayals of the binary. You also get to see outside of Monk’s story to sections appearing to disconnect the story while in fact helping progress it along. One example of this I mention in my next post is about the two sentence section where the creator of Birth of a Nation accepts the portrayal of African Americans in Native Son. Sections like these help further the idea of the binary being accepted as truth by everyone around the main character while he despises it. The postmodern fluctuation in structure and narrative help put forth Everett’s feelings in an innovative new way.