Thelonious "Monk" Ellison has had enough of trite, empty stories about the Black experience.
The character, played by Jeffrey Wright, is at the center of the satirical dramedy American Fiction, which won the top prize at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Based on the Percival Everett novel Erasure, the movie — written and directed by Cord Jefferson (The Good Place, Watchmen) — follows Monk, a professor and author, who struggles to write his next book. Publishers want a "Black story" from him, but he's not interested, frustrated by the offensive stereotypes being perpetuated in pop culture.