Black Girl/White Girl
Fifteen years ago, in 1975, Genna Hewett-Meade's college roommate died a mysterious, violent, terrible death. Minette Swift had been a fiercely individualistic scholarship student, an assertive—even prickly—personality, and one of the few black girlsMore Fifteen years ago, in 1975, Genna Hewett-Meade's college roommate died a mysterious, violent, terrible death. Minette Swift had been a fiercely individualistic scholarship student, an assertive—even prickly—personality, and one of the few black girls at an exclusive women's liberal arts college near Philadelphia. By contrast, Genna was a quiet, self-effacing teenager from a privileged upper-class home, self-consciously struggling to make amends for her own elite upbringing. When, partway through their freshman year, Minette suddenly fell victim to an increasing torrent of racist harassment and vicious slurs—from within the apparent safety of their tolerant, "enlightened" campus—Genna felt it her duty to protect her roommate at all costs.
Now, as Genna reconstructs the months, weeks, and hours leading up to Minette's tragic death, she is also forced to confront her own identity within the social framework of that time. Her father was a prominent civil defense lawyer whose radical politics—including defending anti-war terrorists wanted by the FBI—would deeply affect his daughter's outlook on life, and later challenge her deepest beliefs about social obligation in a morally gray world.
Black Girl / White Girl is a searing double portrait of "black" and "white," of race and civil rights in post-Vietnam America, captured by one of the most important literary voices of our time. Less
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dara rated it did not like it
over 8 years ago
The title and book description are misleading. The book has very little to do with race relations, and more to do with the white girl's dysfunctional relationship with her politically controversial father and her own feelings of guilt. The characters are not at all likabl. Read full review
Debbie rated it really liked it
over 3 years ago
From the title of this book and the soundbites on the back cover you would assume this is a book about race in 1960s America. And it is, but it is also a book about a lot more. Mostly, to me, it seemed to be a book about white middle class guilt and political correctness. Read full review
Jane rated it liked it
over 8 years ago
While I was expecting superior writing from a novelist as celebrated as Oates (this was my first one) and didn't consistently find it, I have to give her credit for tackling an unusual and difficult subject. White Girl's unrequited yearning for friendship with her (Black. Read full review
Larry Bassett rated it really liked it
over 3 years ago
When I was a 10 years old Cub Scout having a regular meeting at TW’s house, his mother found a piece of cake behind the couch; it seemed important to her to determine who had dropped it there. When no one accepted responsibility she took us aside one by one to be question. Read full review
Bird rated it really liked it
over 3 years ago
We're accustomed to thinking of race in terms of it being fraught with tension. It has import; it's a Big Deal.
The strength (or weakness, depending on who you ask) of Black Girl/White Girl is that it is a book ostensibly about race written at a very close, personal range. Read full review
Renee rated it liked it
almost 8 years ago
Shy Genna Meade is descended from hippie activists and abolitionist quakers. Self assured Minette Swift is the daughter of a preacher and one of the few Black students at Schuyler College. Can Genna overcome Minette's tough exterior to reach the person underneath she desp. Read full review
Caroline rated it it was ok
over 7 years ago
I don't get it, and like the another reviewer, I found the author's infatuation with oily black skin, and greasy nappy hair annoying. Or maybe that's how it's supposed to be. Genna had liberal parents and a father who seemed to protest for civil rights and stressed "White. Read full review
Jess Wisloski rated it really liked it
over 3 years ago
This was good, but apparently not good enough for me to remember too well. I know it was compelling, and had something to do with a self-concious, but proud, young Southern black girl who wound up roommates with a self-hating liberal whitey from Pennsylvania. The black gi. Read full review
Abigail Hillinger rated it it was ok
over 9 years ago
Although this book took quite awhile to get into (169 pages, to be precise), I'm glad I read it. Joyce Carol Oates has written a ridiculous number of books, and I was worried her style would be like the female version of Nicholas Sparks--not quite chick-litty or romance. Read full review
Jae rated it liked it
over 8 years ago
Truth in advertising would require this book to be called White Girl. Ostensibly about two college roommates, one the scion of a white liberal family with a long history of progressive politics and the other the daughter of an African-American minister, it's really about. Read full review