On the HahaFiction shelf
Oreo
Audiobook available · 8 hr 8 min
Christine, nicknamed Oreo, grows up with her grandparents in Philadelphia while her mother travels with a theatre troupe. Her Jewish father left when she was a baby; the clues he left behind send this young Black heroine to Manhattan to find him. Ross turns the search into a version of the Theseus story, with a girl at the centre of the adventure.
From the publisher’s blurb
“mixing standard English, black vernacular, and Yiddish with wisecracking aplomb.”Read the full description at Picador / Pan Macmillan, publisher’s description
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What makes it funny?
Even the family introductions refuse to behave. A character list comments on the action, a translation exposes what a relative really means, and a note on the weather explains how much space overcoats would waste. Ross finds jokes in the machinery of telling a story as well as in the people inside it.
The comedy at work
English, Black vernacular and Yiddish jostle together, giving the classical quest a wisecracking voice. The satire also works close to home: Oreo’s grandfather despises Jews while building a business around Jewish customers. Family prejudice becomes both a comic absurdity and a target.
Try this if…
Try this if you enjoy puns, abrupt changes of register and fiction that plays with its own form. The pleasure includes following the verbal detours, so an appetite for experimental storytelling helps.
Good to know
First published in 1974, Oreo draws on the popular culture of its decade. Its attacks on racism and antisemitism include slurs, and the opening chapter contains sexual references. The young heroine’s quest comes with pointed adult material.
A few distinguishing details
- A feminist reworking of the Theseus myth
- Family history interrupted by lists and mock explanations
More funny coming of age
Sources & further reading
- Oreo by Fran Ross - Pan Macmillan
Publisher
- Oreo - Toronto Public Library - OverDrive
Library catalog
- Opening chapter — New Directions
Reading sample
- Publisher — Picador
Publisher
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