Blackass by A Igoni Barrett

Blackass

A Igoni Barrett

Furo Wariboko wakes on the morning of his job interview to find his black body has turned white. As a white man in a black world some doors now open for him as he invents a new identity for himself and turns his back on his family. This book explores race and identity with a light touch and will make you both laugh and think.

Extract
He stared at his hands, the pink life lines in his palms, the shellfish-coloured cuticles, the network of blue veins that ran from knuckle to wrist, more veins than he had ever noticed before. His hands were not black but white. Same as his legs, his belly, all of him. He clenched his fists, squeezed his eyes shut, and sank onto the bed. Outside a bird chirruped, short piercing cries, like mocking laughter.
Parallels
  • Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
  • An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah
  • Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie