Black Girl/White Girl Paperback – May 29, 2007

Black Girl/White Girl is a beautifully written exploration of the complexities of race, family and the impact of social pressure. A privileged white girl, Genna, made by her radical lawyer father to feel deeply guilty about her privileges, tries to relate to her room-mate Minette, an emotionally disturbed daughter of a prominent black preacher. Both struggle to adjust to the harsh social norms of an elite college. Both struggle to deal with domineering fathers. Genna also has to deal with her beautiful, insecure, pill-popping mother enraged by her husband's abandonment. Joyce Carol Oates avoids the cliches of much writing about relations between black and white in America. She shows us the complex impact of American racism and how difficult it is to unravel feelings about race within one's own self. Rejection of overt racism becomes an inverted kind of racial bias that for Genna leads to her inability to deal effectively with her difficult roommate. Oates evokes a time in America when racial and social hatred dominated public life and when supposedly "good" people were willing to kill for their beliefs. Despite desperate, self-denigrating efforts, Genna fails to help Minette. She acquires new levels of guilt when her roommate dies in a fire and she inadvertently betrays her father to a life in prison. One of the few books I have read that I knew immediately I would have to read again.

This book by Joyce Carol Oates is quite different than any of her other books I've read. A girl from a very dysfunctional family narrates the story. She has quite an imagination and sees relationship with her Black college roommate far more meaningful than her roommate. She carries her feelings for her roommate into her adulthood, long after the roommate dies, thinking of her as a sister who died at age 18. I found the book a little strange and had a difficult time relating to the tale.The sexual and violent content is from the narrators childhood memory.Oates went way out with her imagination for this story line. I would hesitate to recommend it heartily though it was thought provoking to some extent.

I was mesmerized by the story and the way Oates' once again captures us from the point of view of a young women affected by her family's function, or dysfunction. I couldn't put this book down. And, at the end, the reader is satisfied with the conclusions, explanations, doubts, shifts, and emotions evoked in this really tragic tale.

Guilt-ridden white girl compulsively determined to befriend sullen taciturn and mistrusting black girl who whose meager responses seem to mitigate the privileged girl's white guilt. Not easy to read yet I had to follow thru to the resolution of this relationship and that with her domineering father. Most satisfying switch of roles.

JCO is a writing machine. Clearly that is her life. She'll pick a theme or subject and then write. The average novel of her output is not optimistic, but you can count on it to be well written. This one is above average re her output and has some very serious social statements (not unlike Tom Wolfe) not taking sides in the current political climate.

I usually like this authors work but not this time. There was not a character that I liked not even a little. The black girl was playing the race card. The white girl was suffering from self imposed quilt. The father was a left wing radical fully involved in crimes revolving around war protesters. I didn't like any of them and didn't care what happened to them. If they had been in my life I would have avoided them at all cost.

I had heard so much about Joyce Carol Oates and I decided to read one of her books. Sadly, this one didn't really hold my interest and I didn't like Oates' style. I am not sure I would give her another go and read another book by her after reading this one.

This novel seems very experimental. She has many voices and each book brings a new one. This one does seem different. the structure and word placement gives you some hesitation, just enough hesitation to make you aware of the text not the story.

Fantastic author to recommend to A level and English Lit degree students.

Thought-provoking. Interesting. Troubling. Frustrating. Very enjoyable read.

perfect condition.

Genna, la narratrice, se situe "idéalement" à la croisée de plusieurs chemins. Celui suivit par son père un avocat investit jusqu'à la tragédie dans les luttes pour les droits civiques et contre la guerre du Vietnam, celui de Minette Swift, sa colocataire à l'université, fille d'un pasteur noir emprunte de "bonnes manières" et loin des combats du père de Genna, celui de sa mère perdue dans les dérives de la contreculture hippie...Tous ces personnages et ces destins se répondent en un jeu de miroirs déformants où Genna se construit à la recherche de son identité et de sa place dans la société américaine.Maintenant ce roman n'a pas pour moi la force et la puissance narrative des meilleurs récits de Joyce Carol Oates. Le fil qui tient le récit est trop ténu, trop fragile pour emporter le lecteur. Le personnage du père qu'elle finit par trahir n'évite pas les clichés sur les militants des années soixante forcément dangereux même s'ils s'engagent pour des causes que l'histoire a fini par légitimer : mouvements des droits civiques et contre la guerre...

I'm having a hard time finishing the last 20% of the book. The story isn't what I was expecting at all. And Genna's obsession with trying to get Minette to like her is irritating and way to long drawn out.

Roman tres bien écrit et tres prenant. On se demande si la jeune fille noire imagine réellement sa persecution. C'est aussi une vue du côté des blancs qui defendent les noirs aux US.

no comment

I really wanted to like this product after reading so much about it. However I developed a rash after using it, so no good for me personally, although I'm sure the product and seller are fine