Colored Television

by Danzy Senna

With all the accolades, I expected to like this book much more than I did. Was it funny? Sure, but hardly hilarious. Colored Television is a sharp, satirical take on the entertainment industry and identity politics, but its humor often felt more biting than buoyant. Jane, the protagonist, is a bitch of a character — unapologetically self-absorbed, intellectually snobbish, and occasionally insufferable, which was a turn-off, even though I might want to be her in another life. Senna’s prose is clever and the premise is timely, but the novel’s uneven tone and Jane’s abrasive charm left me with mixed feelings and a review to match. Truly, this was smart, snarky, and exhausting.