Reviews

4.25 with bump for it's time. SF. short 151 pages! commentary on satire on race, racism, politics. science avail to turn black skin into white looking skin. black people doing this transition and white ppl getting mad. eventually white ppl start darkening their skin. not that hard to read even though published in 30s.

stephenmeansme's review against another edition

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5.0

Extremely sharp sfnal racial(!) satire from the 1930s, which in some very broad structural sense reminded me of the movie SORRY TO BOTHER YOU but is several times more biting in its criticism and would be absolutely unfilmable, then or now, though for amusingly(?) different reasons. It's also frankly impressive how many kinds of people and institutions Schuyler manages to skewer, and interesting how almost all of them have a similar type in the modern day. Just remember that political party affiliation has flipped since then, and there's not much more to say.

4.5 stars rounded up. I don't know if it warrants the full five, but it's definitely recommended.

2pock's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

roketmomm's review against another edition

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challenging funny informative fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Light hearted but yet the setting is the racist 1920s. 100 years later we sadly haven’t come very far.

mcdavidson's review against another edition

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4.0

Satire on race and class in America, surprisingly written in the 1930s but could have easily been written this year. A procedure is created to change black people into white prople, and this largely follows what happens to society afterwards.

This definitely reads like it’s from the 30s because of the language and phrases used (also CW for slurs), but I still found it digestible and engaging. A bit too many characters, but the social commentary was in point. And it’s so sad and disappointing that, almost one hundred years later, this still seems relevant. The ending was absolutely fantastic.

coriandercake's review against another edition

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5.0

This book could have been written last year and not the 1930s. This is a sharp satire of race in the US and highly recommended

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