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]
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.[3] 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."[2] Claire Fallon for the Huffington Post found the novel to be "blunt (and) transparently written", but also "subtle (and) circumspect."[6] Aaron Bady of Okayafrica stated that it is "the most unapologetically Nigerian book that American publishers have published in a long time".[7]
In 2016 Blackass won the People's Literature Publishing House and the Chinese Foreign Literature Society's 21st Century Best Foreign Novel Award.[8] It was nominated for the inaugural FT/OppenheimerFunds Emerging Voices Awards,[9] the 2017 PEN Open Book Award,[10] the 2015 Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award,[11] and the inaugural Nommo Award for Best Novel.[12] In 2017 it was nominated for a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in the debut fiction category.[13][14]
