It's not a perfect 5, but is much closer to 5 than 4 and instantly one of my favorite books of all time. Schuyler takes a rather bizarre premise and plays it out to expose the ridiculous nature of racial logic and those who would uphold, regardless of theor motives. It goes beyond the critiques that you even get in Larsen by embracing not only comedy and satire, but by realizing the socialist politics that are the next step once we stop worrying about what race is and does and start worrying about the real issue, which is how do we confront racism

Timeless

this book has real hater energy and I respect it

this is one of the texts on my reading list for my afro-american literature module in september. i was unsure but inticed from reading the introduction. the author sounds wild and like quite a character. it helped me to see that it is important to consider when this was written in the author’s life and where he stood politically at the time of writing. there were some very mixed reviews on the meaning, importance and legacy of the text. it is described in the introduction as an early afrofuturist text which added to my intrigue. i was unsure and nervous about how the experience of reading a comedy for black people / by a black author about black people as a white person would be. the text had a strong start, being easy to follow. the humour is clear and it is clear that it is a satire. it was interesting to see the exploration of ambiguity in race especially in terms of racial features but also I am unsure about the point raised that black and white people speak the exact same due to my understanding and existence of AAVE. at times i struggled to understand the protagonist’s motives, whether he was blindsided by his new power through his whiteness or whether there was a plot-twist ahead. i also sometimes found it difficult to follow who was who especially as the author chooses to change some of the characters’ names when they transition to white or some characters have titles which they are also refered to as. the author provides a lot of background information about characters and events which helps to fill out the world he created and make it more realistic. this element reminded me of tender is the flesh and think that it is a great way for the author to show the breadth of their creativity and passion for the text. this helped to create a sense of dystopia. the text lost me a little in the third quarter, probably as i found i was confusing characters and the plot slowed down. however i found the ending surprising, fast-paced and impactful. the irony of how the upper class began to darken themselves really highlights the genius of the author’s writing and the dystopia he created as this reflects an unfortunate reality in society today. i’m glad i read this in advance to my module starting as i feel like a re-read will help me to understand the third-quarter as well as process the satire and ideas in the text. i also want to learn more about this complex author and read more of his texts.

update: a re-read in preparation for an upcoming essay for my african american module. The theme of my essay is on Whiteness and how it is used to subvert White values and stereotypes. again I would recommend this for anyone interested in widening the breadth of the reading on Blackness.

What you call a ‘rollicking’ read: hard-hitting, wild and totally cynical satire, in very lively prose. With a very good introduction by Danzy Senna (in the Penguin edition). Often uncomfortable, and pretty terrific all in all.

It's amazing to see a book that was written in 1931 have so much relevance in today's racial and social climate.

What a fascinating class read for my senior seminar.
This should be required reading in all schools!