by Percival Everett
As American Desert opens, the novel's hero, Theodore Street, is driving toward the ocean, where he plans to walk into the waves and drown himself. But on his way, he is hit headlong by an oncoming van. He sails through the windshield, and his head is sliced cleanly from his body, his suicidal plans unwittingly thwarted. At his funeral three days later, Theodore sits up in his coffin, apparently resurrected. The...
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