Written by Aishwarya KhoslaJaipur | January 17, 2026 02:21 AM IST 2 min readAsked how often he re-read Huckleberry Finn while writing James, Everett was characteristically precise: “Exactly 15 times.” The goal, he explained, was distance. “Ten times is probably love.”Percival Everett, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel James, kept participants at the Jaipur Literature Festival guessing for a day over his non-arrival, and then teased them on Friday by appearing over a video link for a few minutes.Everett, whose 2024 book James is a reimagining of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by his fugitive slave, appeared on-screen for just a few minutes, long enough to apologise, provoke, and vanish again.Speaking about language and power, Everett reflected on how people who are oppressed or imprisoned “find a way,” including a way to speak the way your “enemy expects you to speak.”Asked how often he re-read Huckleberry Finn while writing James, Everett was characteristically precise: “Exactly 15 times.” The goal, he explained, was distance. “Ten times is probably love.”He was equally unsentimental about Twain’s legacy. Huckleberry Finn is “important,” Everett said, “but it’s not the greatest work of art.” One reason, he added flatly: “I hate Tom Sawyer.”Everett closed with a brisk theory of authorship that drew knowing laughter from the room. Readers, he said, matter far more than writers. “I don’t know what any of my books mean. I wait for the readers to tell me,” he said, pausing just long enough before delivering the punchline: “And then I take credit for it.”At another venue across the festival grounds, the session ‘God Particle: The Story of Everything’ was so oversubscribed that Marcus du Sautoy, mathematician and broadcaster, and one of the panel’s central figures, was briefly stopped at the door by staff and asked to wait.Story continues below this adOnly after explaining that he was one of the speakers was du Sautoy and his fellow panellists allowed inside. The conversation, featuring CERN physicist Archana Sharma and astrophysicist Geraint Lewis, set out to bridge the smallest constituents of matter and the largest structures in the cosmos.Aishwarya Khosla is a key editorial figure at The Indian Express, where she spearheads and manages the Books & Literature and Puzzles & Games sections, driving content strategy and execution. Her extensive background across eight years also includes previous roles at Hindustan Times, where she provided dedicated coverage of politics, books, theatre, broader culture, and the Punjabi diaspora. Aishwarya's specialty lies in book reviews and literary criticism, apart from deep cultural commentary where she focuses on the complex interplay of culture, identity, and politics. She is a proud recipient of The Nehru Fellowship in Politics and Elections. This fellowship required intensive study and research into political campaigns, policy analysis, political strategy, and communications, directly informing the analytical depth of her cultural commentary. As the dedicated author of The Indian Express newsletters, Meanwhile, Back Home and Books 'n' Bits, Aishwarya provides consistent, curated, and trusted insights directly to the readership. She also hosts the podcast series Casually Obsessed. Her established role and her commitment to examining complex societal themes through a nuanced lens ensure her content is a reliable source of high-quality literary and cultural journalism. Write to her at aishwaryakhosla.ak@gmail.com or aishwarya.khosla@indianexpress.com. You can follow her on Instagram: @aishwarya.khosla, and X: @KhoslaAishwarya. ... Read More © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd