The literary hero of TikTok was late for work. Oliver James, 34, backed his white Ford cargo van into his favorite spot at Upper Newport Bay Nature Reserve in Orange County as he rushed to set up his first livestream of the day. He pulled a curtain behind the driver's seat, snapped his cellphone into a mount by the side mirror, and pulled a book from his knapsack. James told the camera that it was a new day, a new start and that he had read "Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl". We're going to the top right away. The book that everyone in the audience had read was read aloud by him. James shares the same smile and infectious energy as other viral creators on the popular video app. He is a personal trainer and has never written a book, taught English or studied library science. His six-figure following puts him in a rarefied tier of "BookTok"influencers, ahead of the New York Public Library, The Last Bookstore and all the "Big Five" publishers. He sneaked in through the back door. I snuck in from the back. The year's biggest plot twist was his rise among the app's literaryluminaries. Five words started it. What are you doing? I'm not able to read. Is that the case? If you've made it this far, you won't have a lot of recollection of how to read. It's a function of mechanics, and it's a new thing for grade-schoolers to know how to read from letters and sounds. The impeachment of President Clinton did not teach it in California. Children who study this "science of reading" rarely remember the sign and sound that first appeared in the books "Ghost Patrol" and "Matilda Wormwood". Most of the time, it just happened. Anne Halkias said that people can't imagine what it would be like without being able to read. People don't know how much work you have to do. Because we can't remember, illiteracy can seem like a complete lack of knowledge. The reality is brighter for James than it is for everyone else. Halkias said there was some important stuff there. He was familiar with his alphabet. He was familiar with certain words. He didn't have the skills to untangle the instructions in a video game. He couldn't read a job application, browse a takeout menu, or say a contraction if he saw it on a screen. James was a long way behind Halkias' son. When he was in high school, the TikTok star was told he was at a first- grade level. Even after months of practice, anyone who's read with a first- graders will recognize the flat affect, halting pronunciation and bursts of fluid prose that characterizes James' live TikTok broadcasts. His dash- cam confessions look nothing like the polished "shelfies" and breathless reviews that first surfaced #BookTok from the app's vast warren of subcultures. There are people in the publishing world who are influential.
A typical viral BookToker is a white woman with glasses and a pile of unread books.
James is a dark-skinned black man with a trim beard and salt-and-pepper hair. He checked out his first book in October. He built his first bookcase in November.
He was reading "Anne Frank" for weeks and 100,000 people watched every night.
James said that he didn't do a Live one night and that they were texting him in the middle of the night. Are you okay? Why are you not living?
The denizens of BookTok think James' inability to decipher the symbols that give meaning to the world is a curse.
Experts say it's realistic.
Subini Annamma is a professor at the graduate school of education. The education system fails black disabled kids.
Is that the case?
James didn't talk much about his disability or the school that left him functionally uneducated.
He failed from second through fifth grades in Bethlehem, Penn., where he was taught by a black teacher.
The attention he received after his debut on TikTok washed away his memories of his hometown.
James explained that he was in special education when he was a kid. They used to be able to grab us.
He said that violence was the norm in the class where he was diagnosed with learning disabilities. He says he wasn't diagnosed with obsessivecompulsive disorder as a child.
James was the only one of his peers who didn't progress from Shel Silverstein to J.K.Rowan. Body slams, choke holds and armlocks were used to subdue Defiance.
His fans said that school is supposed to be a safe place. People asked if his teacher was in jail.
What happened to James is textbook according to Annamma and other experts.
restraint and seclusion is a controversial practice that is disproportionately used on Black kids with disabilities. That's about obeying the rules. It's not about getting better at something.
Federal civil rights data shows that black students such as James are more likely to be disciplined in special ed classrooms than other students.
He said he got restrained five times a day. It was torturous.
As he talks, the memories come up from his body. His eyes bulged in terror as he became his classmates. His teacher was going towards him. His arms carried him up on his legs. The 9-year-old hit the wall.
I remember that the teacher won.
He played running back for a high school he didn't attend. He told his teammates he was going to college. He took the short bus from the special education program.
Court records show that it was stalking him on the streets, where he briefly tried to sell guns to support his mother. He spent his formative years in federal prison.
As it often does for white children, a disability diagnosis pushed James to the margins, as it often does for students of color.
According to the Department of Justice, a quarter of the people who are in prison spent their school years in special education.
James fell into fitness after he was released from prison, first in Bethlehem and then in Orange County, where he wooed wealthy clients with roadside acrobatics. He wants to be a motivational speaker, but makes his living as a personal trainer, doing chin-ups on street lights, push-ups on sidewalks, and handstands in the median.
He told himself that if he knew how to read he wouldn't have to do it.
The feeling was too much for him.
It's like someone's holding you upside down, and your blood's rushing to your head, you know that feeling? As he and Halkias sorted the books, James explained. It's like someone's holding your arms from wiping the water off your face at the same time.
It feels like that when I read a word. I feel like I'm on the entire page.
The sentence should be in the past tense.
His fans say James is a reader. He overcame the poverty he grew up with and the trauma he suffered in special ed by finishing "Anne Frank" and "The Outsiders"
Some people are not happy with the response.
Annamma said there was a lot of "I'm the nice white lady who can help you with this"
BookTok has elevated white authors and other people above people of color.
The scholar hoped that James would connect with the Black disabled community. He doesn't have to be a pet.
In the version of James' story that was uploaded onto the internet, he whispered five magic words to the computer. He said, "I can't read. A person's literacy. An audience of thousands cheered him on.
He was discovered in the middle of his journey by Book Tok.
James said that he did it for a year without anyone on the scene. I used to be there for two hours without anyone.
The magic words came out while he was in his van.
He became famous on the internet.
Is that the case?
James can't read. Why did he decide at 33 to learn? At least to attempt.
There's a reason. He found out he was going to have a child.
James was surprised by that. A very large surprise.
James' initial response was panic. She lost a baby. James read every day when they decided to have a child. He did it live to make sure he was held accountable.
He said he just wanted to read for a while, and then go from there. I wanted to get these things out of my head.
He practiced handstands at the beach. He admitted his secret at least half a dozen times.
It was definitely helped by landing on Book Tok. His work was praised by the librarians. When he got better, teachers noticed. "Black Buck" and "Watchmen" were two of the books that were sent to his door by fellow readers.
The community embraced him at one point.
He did not learn to read from it.
He did that on his own.
He wants to teach his son one day.
The story was originally published in the LA Times.
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