Ask a Bookseller: ‘Colored Television’ by Danzy Senna

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now. 

We’re at that point in the calendar year when book lovers start to declare their favorites of 2024. Claire Benedict of Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, Vt., says the novel at the top of her list is “Colored Television” by Danzy Senna.

“It’s my favorite kind of book, because it gives you something to think about, and it has some serious themes, but it does it with a light enough touch that you’re just fully entertained the whole way, not just being dragged down by the weight of the world,” she said.

Our heroine, Jane, is a novelist and college instructor whose hopes of tenure are pinned on the publication of her novel — and she’s just found out that it won’t be published.

The novel was her labor of love, what her husband refers to as the “mulatto War and Peace.” Jane, like Senna, is biracial and uses the term “mulatto” to speak specifically to having one Black parent and one white parent in America.

To support her family, Jane turns to Hollywood to write for TV. The resulting ride is deeply thoughtful, and also very funny.

“It’s just kind of one mishap after another,” says Benedict. The entertainment comes from floundering characters trying their best, and we’re “laughing with them [as they’re] just trying to find a place to belong in the world, which is pretty universal. This book is very much about race and identity, but it's also very much about family and trying the best for your family and trying to be a good mom. It was one of those books that you just can’t stop reading, but then you’re sad because it’s over.”