Colored Television

Colored Television is the winner of the 2025 ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION, a finalist for the 2025 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION, and longlisted for the 2025 JOYCE CAROL OATES LITERARY PRIZE, the 2024 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE FICTION PRIZE, and the 2025 CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION.

'I LOVED this fresh, funny story . . . A true page-turner' Daily Mail

'Addictive, hilarious and relatable' —Miranda July, author of All Fours

'[A] gem from Danzy Senna . . . Perceptive and bitingly funny' Vanity Fair

Jane has high hopes that her life is about to turn around. After a long, precarious stretch bouncing among sketchy rentals and sublets, she and her family are living in luxury for a year, house-sitting in the hills above Los Angeles. The gig magically coincides with Jane's sabbatical, giving her the time and space she needs to finish her second novel—a centuries-spanning epic her artist husband, Lenny, dubs her "mulatto War and Peace." Finally, some semblance of stability and success seems to be within her grasp.

But things don't work out quite as hoped. Desperate for a plan B, like countless writers before her, Jane turns her gaze to Hollywood. When she finagles a meeting with Hampton Ford, a hot producer with a major development deal at a streaming network, he seems excited to work with a "real writer," and together they begin to develop "the Jackie Robinson of biracial comedies." Things finally seem to be going right for Jane—until they go terribly wrong.

Reader reviews:

'A fantastic novel . . . funny and ironic and clever' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A clever satire . . . If you enjoyed Yellowface, you'll likely appreciate Senna's ability to blend humour with uncomfortable truths' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'So sharp & funny & MESSY . . . I could not wait to see how this one turned out and had a ball reading it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆