books | "push"

by sapphire. (paperback, 1996)

Sapphire's chilling novel (recently adapted into film darling Precious) excels by stripping down a horrific story and letting the narrative hang on the deep well of hope Precious clings to. I saw the movie before reading the book, and this is one of those rare times when the book-to-film adaptation adhered almost completely to the original text. Both versions of the story succeed in their own media; the inclusion of the classmates' 'Life Stories' was a good choice. Up in the Air is also in my to-read pile before Sunday's Oscars, but Precious makes an especially strong case in the adapted screenplay category. I'd put this in the modern American fiction canon if I were writing syllabi.