Colored Television Audiobook By Danzy Senna cover art

Colored Television

A Novel

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Colored Television

By: Danzy Senna
Narrated by: Kristen Ariza
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About this listen

A brilliant dark comedy about love and ambition, failure and reinvention, and the racial-identity-industrial complex from the bestselling author of Caucasia

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.

Funny, piercing, and compulsively listenable, Colored Television is Senna’s most on-the-pulse, ambitious, and rewarding novel yet.

©2024 Danzy Senna (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Comedy Editor's Select Funny Inspiring
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Critic reviews

"[A] brilliant, of-the-moment, just really almost perfect book."—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED

“A complex and satisfying portrait of a woman struggling with the categories that define her.”Publishers Weekly

"I couldn’t stop turning the pages, and only when it was all over did I realize what Senna had done. Addictive, hilarious and relatable, yes, but Colored Television is after something larger and more elusive, a very modern reckoning with the ambiguities triangulated by race, class, creativity and love. She nails it."—Miranda July, author of All Fours and The First Bad Man

Editorial Review

Skin deep
My skin is brown, the color of almonds (I did a side-by-side.) Every day, from morning to evening, that is how the world sees me. There is no doubt of my race, I can effortlessly check the Black box. In Danzy Senna’s must-listen audiobook, Colored Television, by the time you finish you will understand just about everything you need to know about mulattos. That’s what people who have a white parent and a Black parent are called, a word that in some circles is controversial. Mulattos often have to announce themselves, or as Senna, a mulatto, once said in an interview, she’s had to become comfortable making people uncomfortable because they don’t see her Blackness. In Colored Television, Senna exposes, explores, tickles, and excites the listener with life, through Jane, a mulatto writer’s eyes. She’s just completed a major book on race. Jane’s husband, Lenny, refers to it as the “mulatto War and Peace.” It’s a hard sell. Rejection sends her to Hollywood, where she’s considered and respected by one producer as a “real writer.” Senna is a great writer. She seasons the story generously with laughter, clever word plays, and cold hard facts that don’t seem so bad when the writing is so good. Kristen Ariza narrates effortlessly as if she wrote the book. What it is, I think, is that she got the message. — Yvonne D., Audible Editor

Interview: "Colored Television" is a razor-sharp take on race and Hollywood

'I'm perceived as white, but I don't pass as white.'
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  • Colored Television
  • 'I'm perceived as white, but I don't pass as white.'

What listeners say about Colored Television

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Brilliant!

I couldn’t get enough of this story BUT it’s never wanted it to end, it was satisfying in every way a book should be. The narration was perfection! MUAH! *chefs kiss”💋

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Mid

Unfortunately, the author failed to make me care about the main character until the book was almost over. I spent most of the book rooting for the main character to fail because she’s a liar, a cheat, and overall pathetic.

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thought provoking

so many things I just had no grasp of. I am so glad I shared in Jane's ourney

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Good representation of societal malaise

The topic is current to the malaised mood of a certain slice of American society with its lack of values and a profound sense of a “ glass half empty”

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Nice ending

Excellent portrayal of the twisted minds of America that can’t see past the color of a persons skin.

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Liars are weak

I loved the concept of the book, biracial people and their own racial injustice. The lies Jane told I couldn’t understand

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Nice story

Although this wasn’t my most favorite book, I’ve listened to this year. I did enjoy it. There are a couple parts. I found a little what are we doing? Where is this going but in the end it wrapped up and it made sense.

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Not Perfect, But Perfect for Discussion

"Colored Television by Danzy Senna left me with mixed feelings. There were moments where the story dragged, and I found myself checking how much was left. But then, just as I’d start to lose interest, it would hook me back in with a sharp observation or an unexpected turn. The book explores a lot of complex themes that kept me thinking, and I can see it sparking some lively conversations, especially in a book club setting. If you enjoy stories that leave you with questions to unpack, this one’s worth the read!"

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Excelent

Thoroughly enjoyed this story. Couldn't put it down, but didn't want it to end. Hoping they bring it to a screen, would love to see it visualized. We'll done!

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I’m not going to lie… kinda sounds like Kenya Barris LOL

This book is so good!! I mean I saw myself in everything. I’m so happy to have stumbled across the author. She is so amazing and holding it down for the mixed race folks out here like myself. I feel so inspired!! Such a good read, thoughtfully crafted characters and the plot is so timely. As an assistant in Hollywood, I can speak to Senna’s POV. Working in the industry is not glamorous at all. I wonder how much of this is true because it reads like a memoir!!

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