Oreo (novel)
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| Oreo | |
 Dust-jacket from the first edition |
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| Author | Fran Ross |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Ann Twombly |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Northeastern University Press(publisher) |
| Publication date | 1974 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 212 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-55553-464-3 |
Oreo is a satirical novel published in 1974 by Fran Ross, a journalist and short-lived comedy writer for Richard Pryor. The book was almost forgotten and became out of print until Harryette Mullen rediscovered the novel and brought it out of obscurity. The book has since acquired cult classic status.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Born to a Jewish father and black mother who divorce before she is two, Oreo grows up in Philadelphia with her maternal grandparents while her mother tours with a theatrical troupe. Soon after puberty, Oreo heads for New York with a pack on her back to search for her father; but in the big city she discovers that there are dozens of Sam Schwartzes in the phone book, and Oreo's mission turns into a wickedly humorous picaresque quest. The ambitious and playful narrative challenges accepted notions of race, ethnicity, culture, and even the novelistic form itself.
[edit] Critical response
Upon its republication by Northeastern University Press in 2000, the then nearly thirty-year-old novel was praised for being ahead of its time. Oreo has been hailed as "one of the masterpieces of 20th century American comic writing."[2] Furthermore, one critic elaborated that Oreo was "a true twenty-first century novel." The novel's "wit is global, hybrid and uproarious ... simultaneously irreverent, appropriative and serious. It is post-everything: post-modern, post-identity politics, post-politically correct."[3] Novelist Paul Beatty also included an excerpt of Oreo in his 2006 anthology of African-American humor Hokum. In June 2007, Cultural critic Jalylah Burrell listed the book on VIBE.com as the number one work in African-American literature that should be adapted into a major motion picture, writing, "Quirky comedy with surrealist elements, i.e., Wes Anderson meets Kaufman/Gondry."[4]
