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sako. the more things change, the more things stay the same. an adage that seems tailor made for race relations in america. after eight years of a black president, amid a swirl of demographic and social change, black americans still feel the bite of discrimination and prejudice. how best to respond? my guest today is paul beatty, whose prize winning novel sellout is a devised satire to unpick the black american experience. it is funny and provocative but is it also fundamentally bleak? paul beatty, welcome to hardtalk. let me start with a broad question. it seems to be optimism has always been seen as the default mood setting of american history. are you an optimist? iam not! i am not a pessimist either. reading the book, the sellout which has caused a storm and won the booker prize, some would read it and think, gosh, this man has a very bleak world view. i don t think it is that bleak really, in a weird way. i think hopefully within the energy, there is a kind of some ....