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Jane Gibson is already telling lies when she realizes that shes suspected of telling a different one.
Shes pitching him on a series: a comedy about a kooky but lovable mulatto family.
Mulatto is the term she prefers for herself.
Shes ready to defend her idea.
But Hampton, whos Black, is busy studying her face.
Whats your numbers breakdown?
he asks, peering at her.
Then he goes further: You got a family photo?
Of course, Jane has one in her wallet.
This is not Sennas first whirl with mixed-race neurosis.
(For some of us, its a lifelong project.
)Colored Televisionis her fourth novel that follows a woman who looks and worries like Jane does.
InColored Television, the lies begin with the rejection of Janes book.
She and her husband, Lenny, call the game Forensics: Hamptons beautiful assistant?
Shes nothing but a Nigerian American Princess.
Janes rich showrunner friend Brett is mixed like Jane but belongs to the Tiger Woods school of cluelessness.
The best thing you might be is a wealthy Black artist.
Lenny calls it her mulattoWar and Peace.
Jane thinks it could be her magnum opus.
Sadly, both her agent and editor disagree.
When they tell her the book is no good, Jane gets so depressed she decides to sell out.
Shes lying so hard she doesnt even notice that shes being conned too.
Senna shows us that the pain is so much bigger than the miscategorization.
Its about the loss of her father and sister, and her loss of faith in her parents judgment.
The world of the book is so exact that you never doubt the stakes.
The personal and political hang together in a tight and satisfying braid.
This is a new problem for Senna.
Its assessments feel strangely out of time.
While Janes telling Hampton Ford, Mulattos are like the queer people of races.
Like gay characters, you might have noticed, who always kill themselves in movies.
Truly, theres never been a better time to be white-ish.
One would assume Senna knows this.
She hasnt seemed afraid of implicating herself before.
Who cares, though, if the main characters annoying or self-serving or wrong?
It doesnt matter if we like her so long as the trips a gas.
Sometimes Senna remembers this.
and fielding his rants about the biracial Kardashian kids.
On the other side is Janes husband, Lenny, the books moral compass.
She had been determined to be that couple this year.
She wanted it, and Lenny knew how badly she wanted it.
The book sputters because Senna cant decide how seriously she wants us to take it.
They had picked poetry over profit.
Her biggest fear seems to be that her kids will have to go to a not-fancy-enough public school.
Theres a reason Janes pitches are compelling: Senna is great at coming up with concepts.
The novel ends up reading like an extended stress dream.
And yet here we are, reading another Senna novel about the whole mixed-race thing.
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