Blackass

Blackass is a novel by Nigerian author A. Igoni Barrett. It was released in the United Kingdom and Nigeria in 2015, and 2016 in the United States. It received mixed reviews.[1][2][3]

Blackass
First edition
AuthorA. Igoni Barrett
CountryNigeria
PublisherChatto & Windus
Media typePrint (Hardcover)

Plot summary

Blackass is a story about a young Nigerian Furo Wariboko,[4] who wakes up on the eve of a job interview to discover that he has transformed into a white guy overnight. As he adjusts to his new appearance, he meets Arinze, who offers Furo a far more lucrative job than he expected.[5]

Reception

The Financial Times called Blackass "strange (and) compelling, (...with) something to tell us all", and explicitly compared it to Kafka's The Metamorphosis.[6] Writing in The Guardian, Helon Habila lauded Barrett for "his ability to satirise the ridiculous extents people, especially Lagosians, go to in order to appear important."[7] Claire Fallon for the Huffington Post found it to be "blunt (and) transparently written", but also "subtle (and) circumspect."[8] Aaron Bady of Okayafrica stated that it is "the most unapologetically Nigerian book that American publishers have published in a long time".[9]

In 2016 Blackass won the People's Literature Publishing House and the Chinese Foreign Literature Society's 21st Century Best Foreign Novel Award.[10] It was nominated for the inaugural FT/OppenheimerFunds Emerging Voices Awards,[11] the 2017 PEN Open Book Award,[12] the 2015 Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award,[13] and the inaugural Nommo Award for Best Novel.[14] In 2017 it was nominated for a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in the debut fiction category.[15][16]

References
  1. Schaub, Michael (6 March 2016). "An Audacious Transformation Bogs Down In 'Blackass'". NPR. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  2. Habila, Helon (14 August 2015). "Blackass by A Igoni Barrett review – a cocktail of Kafka and comedy". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  3. Day, Jon (14 August 2015). "'Blackass', by A Igoni Barrett". Financial Times. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  4. "Blackass | Graywolf Press". www.graywolfpress.org. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  5. McKenna (2016-09-13). "Book Review: Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett". The Los Angeles Review. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  6. Jon Day, "‘Blackass’, by A Igoni Barrett" (review), Financial Times, 14 August 2015.
  7. Helon Habila, "Blackass by A Igoni Barrett review – a cocktail of Kafka and comedy", The Guardian, 14 August 2015.
  8. Claire Fallon, "The Bottom Line: ‘Blackass’ By A. Igoni Barrett", HuffPost Arts and Culture, 4 March 2016.
  9. Aaron Bady, "A. Igoni Barrett’s “Blackass” And The Afropolitan Debate", Okayafrica, 10 March 2016.
  10. "年度最佳外国小说”先睹为快" Archived 2019-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, Xinhua News Agency, 02 April 2017.
  11. "Emerging Voices Award Longlist Announced", OppenheimerFunds, 16 June 2015.
  12. "2017 PEN Open Book Award", PEN America, December 2016
  13. "2015 Kitschies Short List" Locus Online, 22 February 2016.
  14. "2017 Nommo Awards Shortlist", Locus Online, 4 April 2017.
  15. "Hurston Wright Foundation Announces 2017 Legacy Awards Nominations", MahoganyBooks Blog, 30 June 2017
  16. "Hurston/Wright Foundation | A. Igoni Barrett", Hurstonwright.org
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