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Harry Sylvester Bird: A Darkly Funny Coming-of-Age Satire of White Guilt, Race, and Identity
"Disarmingly funny." - The New York Times
" Harry Sylvester Bird is a powerful story about the kind of racism that disguises as love and desire for black bodies, black life, and black pain.... The desire for racial metamorphosis is at the heart of the story. It opens a space where Okparanta examines the many forms that racism can take.... Parts of the novel are laugh-out-loud funny. The satire is deliciously biting. The pacing of the narration is perfect. The writing is spare and stunning.... [T]he (very) near-future speculative element in the story gives the novel its distinct feel.... [Harry Sylvester Bird] reprises the same bold elegance with which Okparanta engaged homophobia many years ago. With this new novel, she is still asking readers to confront the unexamined assumptions that blur their vision of the world." - The Herald
From the award-winning author of Under the Udala Trees and Happiness, Like Water comes a brilliant, provocative, up-to-the-minute satirical novel about a young white man's education and miseducation in contemporary America.
Harry Sylvester Bird grows up in Edward, Pennsylvania, with his parents, Wayne and Chevy, whom he greatly dislikes. They're racist, xenophobic, financially incompetent, and they have quite a few secrets of their own. To Harry, they represent everything wrong with this country. And his small town isn't any better. He witnesses racial profiling, graffitied swastikas, and White Power signs on his walk home from school. He can't wait until he's old enough to leave. When he finally is, he moves straight to New York City, where he feels he can finally live out his true inner self.
In the city, he meets and falls in love with Maryam, a young Nigerian woman. But when Maryam begins to pull away, Harry is forced to confront his identity as he never has before—if he can.
Brilliant, funny, original, and unflinching, Harry Sylvester Bird is a satire that speaks to all the most pressing tensions and anxieties of our time—and of the history that has shaped us and might continue to do so.
" Harry Sylvester Bird is a powerful story about the kind of racism that disguises as love and desire for black bodies, black life, and black pain.... The desire for racial metamorphosis is at the heart of the story. It opens a space where Okparanta examines the many forms that racism can take.... Parts of the novel are laugh-out-loud funny. The satire is deliciously biting. The pacing of the narration is perfect. The writing is spare and stunning.... [T]he (very) near-future speculative element in the story gives the novel its distinct feel.... [Harry Sylvester Bird] reprises the same bold elegance with which Okparanta engaged homophobia many years ago. With this new novel, she is still asking readers to confront the unexamined assumptions that blur their vision of the world." - The Herald
From the award-winning author of Under the Udala Trees and Happiness, Like Water comes a brilliant, provocative, up-to-the-minute satirical novel about a young white man's education and miseducation in contemporary America.
Harry Sylvester Bird grows up in Edward, Pennsylvania, with his parents, Wayne and Chevy, whom he greatly dislikes. They're racist, xenophobic, financially incompetent, and they have quite a few secrets of their own. To Harry, they represent everything wrong with this country. And his small town isn't any better. He witnesses racial profiling, graffitied swastikas, and White Power signs on his walk home from school. He can't wait until he's old enough to leave. When he finally is, he moves straight to New York City, where he feels he can finally live out his true inner self.
In the city, he meets and falls in love with Maryam, a young Nigerian woman. But when Maryam begins to pull away, Harry is forced to confront his identity as he never has before—if he can.
Brilliant, funny, original, and unflinching, Harry Sylvester Bird is a satire that speaks to all the most pressing tensions and anxieties of our time—and of the history that has shaped us and might continue to do so.
320 pages, Paperback
First published July 12, 2022
54 people are currently reading
4959 people want to read
About the author
Chinelo Okparanta
12 books790 followersChinelo Okparanta was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and relocated to the United States at the age of ten. She received her BS from The Pennsylvania State University, her MA from Rutgers University, and her MFA from the University of Iowa. She was one of Granta's six New Voices for 2012 and her stories have appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, Tin House, Subtropics, and elsewhere.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
August 1, 2022
The book opens with the teenaged Harry Sylvester Bird on an African safari with his supremely racist and entitled parents. Back home in a small Pennsylvania town, further depths of parental awfulness are revealed. Harry flees to college in New York City where he has to deal with the pandemic, the growth of a white supremacist movement and his general awkwardness. He also manages to meet and fall in love with Maryam, a fellow student from Nigeria.
The blurb for this book is pretty accurate, but I found it to be only intermittently provocative. Satire is hard to do. It can be either too heavy handed or too subtle. I think this book leans too far towards the heavy handed side. The most interesting part to me was Harry’s belief that he was really meant to be black, but for long stretches of the book this theme was ignored. The author should also have provided some reason why Maryam would have wasted more than 2 dates on Harry. 3.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
The blurb for this book is pretty accurate, but I found it to be only intermittently provocative. Satire is hard to do. It can be either too heavy handed or too subtle. I think this book leans too far towards the heavy handed side. The most interesting part to me was Harry’s belief that he was really meant to be black, but for long stretches of the book this theme was ignored. The author should also have provided some reason why Maryam would have wasted more than 2 dates on Harry. 3.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
May 19, 2022
*** full book review: https://africanbookaddict.com/2022/05...
Sigh. Where do I even begin with this book???? There are so many layers to this satire, and I have so many complaints and questions! Chinelo Okparanta really had the gall to portray the life of a white boy / man, as a Black African woman writer and I deeply admire her for that. Reading Harry Sylvester Bird was mind-boggling and mortifying as hell, but I’m always down for an original, chaotic read by an author I admire.
Once I finished reading this book, I concluded that my dear Harry, is a sick man. I don’t know whether he has a white savior complex, body dysmorphia, obsessive-compulsive disorder or all three – but the man is… strange. I found Harry to be adorable yet repulsive, timid, lonely, calm, selfish, confused, weird and inherently racist as fuck – through no fault of his own.
While this book is hilarious, it explores various political stances that may be uncomfortable to imbibe. I just want to know why Okparanta chose to write this story. Authors are free to write what they like – duh. But was she trying to humanize racist white men? Was she trying to expose racist white people? Was she indirectly celebrating the gloriousness of our Black race? Was she trying to open up the dreadful trans-racial conversation? Was she trying to flip the white gaze? I have soooo many questions! Nevertheless, Okparanta did a damn good job with this original novel. Dear reader, please remember that this novel is a SATIRE – lighten up! Harry and this glorious mess of a novel will be on my mind for a long time.
Sigh. Where do I even begin with this book???? There are so many layers to this satire, and I have so many complaints and questions! Chinelo Okparanta really had the gall to portray the life of a white boy / man, as a Black African woman writer and I deeply admire her for that. Reading Harry Sylvester Bird was mind-boggling and mortifying as hell, but I’m always down for an original, chaotic read by an author I admire.
Once I finished reading this book, I concluded that my dear Harry, is a sick man. I don’t know whether he has a white savior complex, body dysmorphia, obsessive-compulsive disorder or all three – but the man is… strange. I found Harry to be adorable yet repulsive, timid, lonely, calm, selfish, confused, weird and inherently racist as fuck – through no fault of his own.
While this book is hilarious, it explores various political stances that may be uncomfortable to imbibe. I just want to know why Okparanta chose to write this story. Authors are free to write what they like – duh. But was she trying to humanize racist white men? Was she trying to expose racist white people? Was she indirectly celebrating the gloriousness of our Black race? Was she trying to open up the dreadful trans-racial conversation? Was she trying to flip the white gaze? I have soooo many questions! Nevertheless, Okparanta did a damn good job with this original novel. Dear reader, please remember that this novel is a SATIRE – lighten up! Harry and this glorious mess of a novel will be on my mind for a long time.
March 7, 2023
Yawn. Harry Sylvester Byrd is a young white man who identifies as black. Throw in some very racist parents and you have a very interesting story, potentially. Unfortunately, I found Harry , who calls himself G-Dawg (that goes over well), to be totally unlikable. He is uncouth, self-absorbed, immature, and socially inappropriate. I could have forgiven him if he showed some personal growth but nope, not even a smidgen. And the romance between Harry and Maryam made me dizzy from all of my eye-rolling. Okay, so he did a pretty cool school project but it was totally unbelievable. I love a good satire but Harry Sylvester Byrd didn't work for me.
Thanks to Mariner Books for the drc via Netgalley.
Thanks to Mariner Books for the drc via Netgalley.
May 31, 2023
this is an amazing work of satire. chinelo okparanta has written a book that a lot of white people are going to absolutely hate. for this russian jewish trans person, it was fucking phenomenal. henry felt so real, so over-the-top in the most realistic way — i’ve known white men like henry. maryam is a black woman who is sucked into henry’s self loathing and black fetishization. she puts up with his shit because she wants to see the good in him.
but let’s be honest, there is no “transracial” identity. that’s a crock of shit. it’s offensive to trans people and people of color. okparanta inserts this idea so seamlessly into the novel that you forget that henry truly believes he is black at moments. his actions are delusional and rooted in racism. his casual racism was so intense and he was so blind to it. henry is a “white savior” but with an extreme fetish for black culture and heritage. he was loathsome, yet represented a large subgroup of cultural appropriation as well as white allyship.
so as the white folks review bomb this, just know that they didn’t get it. this was fantastic satire. the lengths that henry is willing to go to be black is truly disturbing. instead of connecting with black people, he connected with “transracial” white people who haven’t dealt with their own microaggressions and fetishization of black culture.
but let’s be honest, there is no “transracial” identity. that’s a crock of shit. it’s offensive to trans people and people of color. okparanta inserts this idea so seamlessly into the novel that you forget that henry truly believes he is black at moments. his actions are delusional and rooted in racism. his casual racism was so intense and he was so blind to it. henry is a “white savior” but with an extreme fetish for black culture and heritage. he was loathsome, yet represented a large subgroup of cultural appropriation as well as white allyship.
so as the white folks review bomb this, just know that they didn’t get it. this was fantastic satire. the lengths that henry is willing to go to be black is truly disturbing. instead of connecting with black people, he connected with “transracial” white people who haven’t dealt with their own microaggressions and fetishization of black culture.
March 1, 2024
Funny yet serious, this is an entertaining, unique read. It’s satire that is very timely and the author does not shy away from today’s issues especially related to race and white power. This novel is a highly original take on the coming-of-age novel. Our hero hates his parents and, in doing so, shows us all the ugly underbellies of our society in the most brash, outlandish, and often funny descriptions. The insights and commentary from this young man are often hilarious, and overall seem to come from a genuine place of trying to understand the world he is growing up into. He sounds real and I felt like I got a glimpse of the world from the perspective a Gen Zer.
This is a book that I really want to talk about with others. I don’t yet see reviews in Net Galley for me to get an idea of how others respond to it and I’m so curious to see how this book lands. It started off in a jokey jumpy tone that took me a while to get, but gradually it settled down and was easier to read. I’m not sure how the author did it, but the voice of the narrator seemed to mature as he graduated from high school and moved to NYC, attended college, met a girl, and got to travel. The perspective he portrays as a child seems so real as to how a young person might interpret events. He is such a sensitive soul, and I honestly grew to really root for him as a young white man trying to be the best human he can be. He is constantly learning and revising his past insensitivities and I got the impression that the end of this book is just the beginning.
I also love the romance angle. It was believable but as a reader I felt like I was missing out on the whole story in this relationship and others. There were some chapters where I felt like I’d been dropped into a scene without much preparation. I like when the author treats me as an intelligent reader so don’t usually have a problem filling in blanks but maybe I need to reread this book to ensure I did get it all! Maryam was an interesting character in her own right and her story and perspective definitely enhanced the story. I like how we get the idea that then do end up together and enjoyed the foreshadowing that allows me to believe that the ending doesn’t have to be the end for them.
I enjoyed the scenery also – Tanzania, Ghana and New York City as backdrops were fascinating. To see Tanzania through a child’s eye and then Ghana from an adult perspective showed me how our main character developed but still had a lot to learn.
There’s SO much to say about this book! Loved it overall and I’m still thinking about it weeks later. I think it will stay with me as I puzzle it all out.
Thanks to Mariner Books and Net Galley for the early review copy. This is a book that made me think and it will remain with me for a long time.
This is a book that I really want to talk about with others. I don’t yet see reviews in Net Galley for me to get an idea of how others respond to it and I’m so curious to see how this book lands. It started off in a jokey jumpy tone that took me a while to get, but gradually it settled down and was easier to read. I’m not sure how the author did it, but the voice of the narrator seemed to mature as he graduated from high school and moved to NYC, attended college, met a girl, and got to travel. The perspective he portrays as a child seems so real as to how a young person might interpret events. He is such a sensitive soul, and I honestly grew to really root for him as a young white man trying to be the best human he can be. He is constantly learning and revising his past insensitivities and I got the impression that the end of this book is just the beginning.
I also love the romance angle. It was believable but as a reader I felt like I was missing out on the whole story in this relationship and others. There were some chapters where I felt like I’d been dropped into a scene without much preparation. I like when the author treats me as an intelligent reader so don’t usually have a problem filling in blanks but maybe I need to reread this book to ensure I did get it all! Maryam was an interesting character in her own right and her story and perspective definitely enhanced the story. I like how we get the idea that then do end up together and enjoyed the foreshadowing that allows me to believe that the ending doesn’t have to be the end for them.
I enjoyed the scenery also – Tanzania, Ghana and New York City as backdrops were fascinating. To see Tanzania through a child’s eye and then Ghana from an adult perspective showed me how our main character developed but still had a lot to learn.
There’s SO much to say about this book! Loved it overall and I’m still thinking about it weeks later. I think it will stay with me as I puzzle it all out.
Thanks to Mariner Books and Net Galley for the early review copy. This is a book that made me think and it will remain with me for a long time.
June 9, 2022
This book is genius! I could not put it down, the writing flies off the page. TREMENDOUS!! Satire at it's best!
I chuckled all the way through the book because Harry Sylvester Bird is a train wreck, one in which you cannot pull away. I cringed at his ignorance, selfishness, racism, total lack of self-awareness, his deep dive into DBT for self-acceptance therapy, in which he convinces himself that he is really a black person in heart with skin color to match. Harry is a white boy from Pennsylvania, the heartland of Purists racists that plague the country.
Harry is a cringe worthy mess of an immature little boy, cowardly at all times, constantly running away even as a 24-year-old (I cannot describe him as a man). Never taking responsibilities for his actions but always blaming others. He does not believe that his girlfriend, Maryam who is Nigerian and black, is enduring racism from the staff at the nail salon so he forces her to go inside and ask for a manicure, the place is empty, but the staff person says, "Sorry no openings". He is baffled but relieved that Maryam is brought down to his level.
Harry is not likeable in any way. He is self absorbed to the point of being an obnoxious, know it all. On every page there is something he does that totally disgusts me to the point I actually think to myself, 'no way this is so wrong!' but he does it without thinking, without any remorse and without any self reflection.
Only a few of the things I love about this story (there are so many!):
- Harry is totally and completely without self-awareness.
- The DBT for self-awareness therapy is down in the basement of a nondescript coffee shop, which in every instance is described as smelling of wet concreate and old wood and dead cockroaches and mold. Very telling of the 'therapy's' effectiveness (HA!).
-In the DBT therapy, the patients stare at themselves in their mirrors, staring at their big, bland white bodies. "the longer you sit with the discomfort, the greater your chance the discomfort will eventually decrease. Once you have made your peace with your white selves and are no longer terrified of your white selves then you can work toward becoming your new black selves. This will involve more elaborate steps: 1) psychotherapy for racial reassignment, takes anywhere from a few months to a few years. 2) physical transformation support to include voice training, dialect coaching, hair texturizing, tanning injections, cultural competency courses for the official racial reassignment certification and 3) finally support groups which last a lifetime.
- Harry is a consistent member of therapy so in his mind, his efforts are brining about his change.
- Harry and Maryam take a trip to Ghana, on one of their first excursions to a village, one of the elders calls Harry "oburoni" which translates to white. Harry is startled at being referred to as white and is "Horror struck at this offense and managed to say, I'm not an oburoni!" Harry has indeed drunk the Kool aide (no pun intended)!
- When Harry enters the slave museum and sees the pictures on the walls of queues of people chained for sale, standing in their own urine, feces and sickness for months. Harry's head starts to swirl with discomfort thinking what a horror their lives must have been. And yet in this moment Harry feels somehow more miserable than the chained slaves.
- Leaving the museum and heading to the beach, Harry and Maryam are holding hands when Harry sees several small children all playing together and says to Maryam, "Such cute little monkeys". All Maryam can do is release his hand and walk away.
- Back in NYC, Harry cannot understand what happened to upset Maryam so he calls his only friend, Damian to help understand what has happened. Damian explains "to actually love someone, you must see them."
- Last but not least, Harry's parents Wayne and Chevy (short for Chevrolet), disaster always falls close to the tree. Poor Harry, what a disaster!!
I chuckled all the way through the book because Harry Sylvester Bird is a train wreck, one in which you cannot pull away. I cringed at his ignorance, selfishness, racism, total lack of self-awareness, his deep dive into DBT for self-acceptance therapy, in which he convinces himself that he is really a black person in heart with skin color to match. Harry is a white boy from Pennsylvania, the heartland of Purists racists that plague the country.
Harry is a cringe worthy mess of an immature little boy, cowardly at all times, constantly running away even as a 24-year-old (I cannot describe him as a man). Never taking responsibilities for his actions but always blaming others. He does not believe that his girlfriend, Maryam who is Nigerian and black, is enduring racism from the staff at the nail salon so he forces her to go inside and ask for a manicure, the place is empty, but the staff person says, "Sorry no openings". He is baffled but relieved that Maryam is brought down to his level.
Harry is not likeable in any way. He is self absorbed to the point of being an obnoxious, know it all. On every page there is something he does that totally disgusts me to the point I actually think to myself, 'no way this is so wrong!' but he does it without thinking, without any remorse and without any self reflection.
Only a few of the things I love about this story (there are so many!):
- Harry is totally and completely without self-awareness.
- The DBT for self-awareness therapy is down in the basement of a nondescript coffee shop, which in every instance is described as smelling of wet concreate and old wood and dead cockroaches and mold. Very telling of the 'therapy's' effectiveness (HA!).
-In the DBT therapy, the patients stare at themselves in their mirrors, staring at their big, bland white bodies. "the longer you sit with the discomfort, the greater your chance the discomfort will eventually decrease. Once you have made your peace with your white selves and are no longer terrified of your white selves then you can work toward becoming your new black selves. This will involve more elaborate steps: 1) psychotherapy for racial reassignment, takes anywhere from a few months to a few years. 2) physical transformation support to include voice training, dialect coaching, hair texturizing, tanning injections, cultural competency courses for the official racial reassignment certification and 3) finally support groups which last a lifetime.
- Harry is a consistent member of therapy so in his mind, his efforts are brining about his change.
- Harry and Maryam take a trip to Ghana, on one of their first excursions to a village, one of the elders calls Harry "oburoni" which translates to white. Harry is startled at being referred to as white and is "Horror struck at this offense and managed to say, I'm not an oburoni!" Harry has indeed drunk the Kool aide (no pun intended)!
- When Harry enters the slave museum and sees the pictures on the walls of queues of people chained for sale, standing in their own urine, feces and sickness for months. Harry's head starts to swirl with discomfort thinking what a horror their lives must have been. And yet in this moment Harry feels somehow more miserable than the chained slaves.
- Leaving the museum and heading to the beach, Harry and Maryam are holding hands when Harry sees several small children all playing together and says to Maryam, "Such cute little monkeys". All Maryam can do is release his hand and walk away.
- Back in NYC, Harry cannot understand what happened to upset Maryam so he calls his only friend, Damian to help understand what has happened. Damian explains "to actually love someone, you must see them."
- Last but not least, Harry's parents Wayne and Chevy (short for Chevrolet), disaster always falls close to the tree. Poor Harry, what a disaster!!
June 27, 2022
I was lucky to receive an ARC of this book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review, so i'd like to thank the publisher for sending me this book.
What can I say about this book? I am speechless, amazed by the storytelling crafted by the author here, the sheer AUDACITY!!! Chinelo Okparanta is one of my favorite authors of this century and I have yet to be disappointed by her work. I am at awe by the amount of nuance, scandalous behavior, toxicity and innocence brought to Harry's character all at once. I found myself being pulled from every direction. The character work in this novel consists of various uphill battles of empathizing with Harry while also despising him deeply. I found the pacing to be straight to the point, very clean. I was gripped by this story from page one and managed to finish the book very quickly because it was such a page turner. This book will encourage people to take a closer look at child abuse, generational trauma, the dangers of white innocence, white liberalism and memory. Memory is a theme that is constantly revisited throughout this novel. And I really like the various ways it was explored from beginning to end. I thought this book was brilliant, funny, and I wanted to scream at times while reading this book publicly because so much kept happening, each chapter more appalling than the next. I really liked Maryam as a character. I admired her confidence but also recognized her own suffering through it all,while trying to build some sort of normalcy for herself,with the sorrows of displacement, migration and the daily cruelties of the world constantly at her neck. Many times I found myself wanting to protect her from her own decisions, gosh she needed it. I keep wondering what it is that she saw in that man that we the readers couldn't see, I'm always curious about questionable choices characters make. I loved that she had locs, I loved how tender she was, how she was able to follow her gut in the end and chose what was best for her.
Overall this was a satisfying read. I rated this 4 / 5 stars.
What can I say about this book? I am speechless, amazed by the storytelling crafted by the author here, the sheer AUDACITY!!! Chinelo Okparanta is one of my favorite authors of this century and I have yet to be disappointed by her work. I am at awe by the amount of nuance, scandalous behavior, toxicity and innocence brought to Harry's character all at once. I found myself being pulled from every direction. The character work in this novel consists of various uphill battles of empathizing with Harry while also despising him deeply. I found the pacing to be straight to the point, very clean. I was gripped by this story from page one and managed to finish the book very quickly because it was such a page turner. This book will encourage people to take a closer look at child abuse, generational trauma, the dangers of white innocence, white liberalism and memory. Memory is a theme that is constantly revisited throughout this novel. And I really like the various ways it was explored from beginning to end. I thought this book was brilliant, funny, and I wanted to scream at times while reading this book publicly because so much kept happening, each chapter more appalling than the next. I really liked Maryam as a character. I admired her confidence but also recognized her own suffering through it all,while trying to build some sort of normalcy for herself,with the sorrows of displacement, migration and the daily cruelties of the world constantly at her neck. Many times I found myself wanting to protect her from her own decisions, gosh she needed it. I keep wondering what it is that she saw in that man that we the readers couldn't see, I'm always curious about questionable choices characters make. I loved that she had locs, I loved how tender she was, how she was able to follow her gut in the end and chose what was best for her.
Overall this was a satisfying read. I rated this 4 / 5 stars.
July 28, 2022
I did enjoy this book and I felt like everything throughout it was intentional and metaphorical. Harry/G-Dawg is so cringy and the book does highlight and emphasize a caricature of what many people think is allyship. For people who will take this book literally, I’m sure you’ll be somewhat offended or upset by the depiction of Harry and our community. However, as a white male social worker I’ve seen through client stories that none of these transgressions are fiction or exaggeration.
I felt that for most the addition of Harry’s “remodel” of Centralia will be seen as a useless part of the story that doesn’t quite fit, however, I felt it was all a metaphor for how white allys see progress. We can slap a bandaid on our problems/systemic injustices, just like how Harry resurfaced Centralia, but unless we make actual change to the underlying issues or “burning of Centralia” there will never be a marked difference.
I felt that for most the addition of Harry’s “remodel” of Centralia will be seen as a useless part of the story that doesn’t quite fit, however, I felt it was all a metaphor for how white allys see progress. We can slap a bandaid on our problems/systemic injustices, just like how Harry resurfaced Centralia, but unless we make actual change to the underlying issues or “burning of Centralia” there will never be a marked difference.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2022
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a more cringe protagonist than Harry Bird (or “G-Dawg,” as he calls himself for a good portion of the book… we’re off to a great start, as you can see). He was an absolute train wreck I could not stop looking at. What makes him a cringey character beyond comparison? He is a young white man from the United States who truly believes he’s Black. Yep. You read that right. And yes, he does fetishize Black/African cultures and people in such a way that will leave you mortified.
Considering that this book is written by a Black woman, Okparanta brings some really interesting (and very timely) satire to the table that may not sit well with a lot of people (which I think explains the surprisingly low ratings for this book). Regardless of whether you find the book enjoyable or not, you will definitely form a strong opinion that I know will lead to some impassioned discussions.
Considering that this book is written by a Black woman, Okparanta brings some really interesting (and very timely) satire to the table that may not sit well with a lot of people (which I think explains the surprisingly low ratings for this book). Regardless of whether you find the book enjoyable or not, you will definitely form a strong opinion that I know will lead to some impassioned discussions.
February 19, 2022
This novel was interesting to read. The ending is semi tragic, but leaves room for hope that Harry will eventually come to terms with himself. I wonder what will happen when Harry finds Maryam again. Anyway, the novel speaks to some of my experiences as a black person who lived in both America and Africa. The story is complex and lends itself to different interpretations.
February 1, 2024
Un livre intéressant pour le développement du personnage dont on suit l'enfance jusqu'à l'âge adulte. Fils de deux parents extrêmement racistes, abusifs sur le bords et complètement entitled, l'enfant s'oppose très rapidement à ces comportements et au suprémacisme qu'il voit monter en Amérique (notamment à travers les mouvements de "Purists" qui sont très très clairement une allusion aux partisans de Trump). Toutefois, l'histoire étant complexe et se voulant un réflexion complexe sur la blanchité aux États-Unis, l'enfant grandit en ayant en tête d'être anti-raciste, mais finit par reproduire, à sa manière, d'autres manière de manifester un racisme, d'abord de manière très insidieuse, puis complètement frontale et assumée (mais pas par le personnage). On suit donc, "avec horreur", le parcours de ce d'abord "sweet boy" en un sens, négligé par ses parents, qui finit par se penser transracial (une personne noire dans le corps d'une personne blanche) pour justifier ses préjugés et refuser d'assumer sa blanchité.
Je dois avouer que c'est un roman qui m'a un peu surpris de la part d'Okparanta puisqu'on s'éloigne beaucoup des personnages féminins dans ce roman (bien qu'il y a des développements intéressants pour le personnage de la mère et de la compagne de Harry) et on joue sur beaucoup de registres de genre en même temps: "miroir" social, satire, roman de formation, anti-prise de conscience, roman, etc. qui, peut-être se heurte assez souvent à l'intérieur du même récit constitué de plein de moments, plus ou moins continue, dans la vie d'Harry et pour lesquels on n'a pas toujours de finalité ou de sens.
Par exemple, sa "transracialité" (et je mets beaucoup de guillemets pour ce mot qui sert normalement à parler d'adoption) est évoqué très tôt (et je n'étais pas au courant que le roman aborderait ce thème donc je pensais que le petit garçon était tombé amoureux d'hommes noirs, pas qu'il voulait être comme eux), oublié pendant plusieurs centaines de pages, avant de revenir en force dans les dernières parties du livre alors qu'il est adulte et suit un espèce de gourou et des ateliers de "prise de conscience", oui, le roman est assez flyé par moment. Ça se veut une critique mordante et satirique, mais je ne sais pas si ça touche vraiment autant que ça pourrait, les thèmes étant assez chargés, on veut dire beaucoup beaucoup de chose, des fois de manière très frontales, en les nommant (le suprémacisme), des fois en utilisant des métaphores très évidentes (les "Purists), d'autres fois par la satire (le refus d'assumer la blanchité à travers l'idée de "transracialité"). Je pourrais malheureusement très bien voir plusieurs personnes qui ne saisirait pas le second degré de l'oeuvre en le prenant par hasard dans une bibliothèque comme un "simple" roman et prendrait facilement le parti d'Harry Sylvester Bird à la fin du roman et de penser qu'il est incompris ou que ses comportements sont explicables par ses propres traumatismes et etc. (ce qu'ils sont quand même en partie, il n'a juste pas suivi un psy. en préférant se tourner vers d'autres "solutions").
Je ne sais pas trop quoi en penser au final pour être honnête, certains passages confrontent quand même de front la blanchité, mais on dirait un livre à destination d'un public qui a besoin d'entendre parler de ces problèmes plutôt qu'un public qui subit le racisme et le suprémacisme au quotidien qui, je pense (je n'ai pas la prétention de parler pour elleux, mais un coup d'oeil rapide à qui dit quoi sur ce livre semble pointer dans cette direction), ne tirera peut-être pas grand chose de l'ouvrage (ou peut-être en début de parcours de réflexion sur le sujet). Un livre qui, toutefois, pourrait être extrêmement intéressant pour partir des discussions extrêmement profonde, dans un cercle de lecture ou entre ami·es ; je sais que, moi, j'ai envie de parler du traitement du personnage principal et de sa compagne parce que je pense qu'il y a beaucoup plus qu'une manière de voir cette narration et que je ne tire qu'un bout d'interprétation.
Je dois avouer que c'est un roman qui m'a un peu surpris de la part d'Okparanta puisqu'on s'éloigne beaucoup des personnages féminins dans ce roman (bien qu'il y a des développements intéressants pour le personnage de la mère et de la compagne de Harry) et on joue sur beaucoup de registres de genre en même temps: "miroir" social, satire, roman de formation, anti-prise de conscience, roman, etc. qui, peut-être se heurte assez souvent à l'intérieur du même récit constitué de plein de moments, plus ou moins continue, dans la vie d'Harry et pour lesquels on n'a pas toujours de finalité ou de sens.
Par exemple, sa "transracialité" (et je mets beaucoup de guillemets pour ce mot qui sert normalement à parler d'adoption) est évoqué très tôt (et je n'étais pas au courant que le roman aborderait ce thème donc je pensais que le petit garçon était tombé amoureux d'hommes noirs, pas qu'il voulait être comme eux), oublié pendant plusieurs centaines de pages, avant de revenir en force dans les dernières parties du livre alors qu'il est adulte et suit un espèce de gourou et des ateliers de "prise de conscience", oui, le roman est assez flyé par moment. Ça se veut une critique mordante et satirique, mais je ne sais pas si ça touche vraiment autant que ça pourrait, les thèmes étant assez chargés, on veut dire beaucoup beaucoup de chose, des fois de manière très frontales, en les nommant (le suprémacisme), des fois en utilisant des métaphores très évidentes (les "Purists), d'autres fois par la satire (le refus d'assumer la blanchité à travers l'idée de "transracialité"). Je pourrais malheureusement très bien voir plusieurs personnes qui ne saisirait pas le second degré de l'oeuvre en le prenant par hasard dans une bibliothèque comme un "simple" roman et prendrait facilement le parti d'Harry Sylvester Bird à la fin du roman et de penser qu'il est incompris ou que ses comportements sont explicables par ses propres traumatismes et etc. (ce qu'ils sont quand même en partie, il n'a juste pas suivi un psy. en préférant se tourner vers d'autres "solutions").
Je ne sais pas trop quoi en penser au final pour être honnête, certains passages confrontent quand même de front la blanchité, mais on dirait un livre à destination d'un public qui a besoin d'entendre parler de ces problèmes plutôt qu'un public qui subit le racisme et le suprémacisme au quotidien qui, je pense (je n'ai pas la prétention de parler pour elleux, mais un coup d'oeil rapide à qui dit quoi sur ce livre semble pointer dans cette direction), ne tirera peut-être pas grand chose de l'ouvrage (ou peut-être en début de parcours de réflexion sur le sujet). Un livre qui, toutefois, pourrait être extrêmement intéressant pour partir des discussions extrêmement profonde, dans un cercle de lecture ou entre ami·es ; je sais que, moi, j'ai envie de parler du traitement du personnage principal et de sa compagne parce que je pense qu'il y a beaucoup plus qu'une manière de voir cette narration et que je ne tire qu'un bout d'interprétation.
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April 18, 2023“We arrived at the resort in the afternoon when the sun was rising above the army of palm trees, lined and fanning in the breeze like the windmills in the brightening orange and blue.”
This is the second novel by Chinelo Okparanta and I wanted to read it after I read an article she wrote describing her process in deciding on the subject of the book. The cover and the title don’t offer much in terms of insight into the book itself, although I wonder if the character’s name is partly based on Harry F. Byrd from Virginia, the former Senator and governor who helped to construct and institute Virginia’s racist reaction to Brown v Board of Education known as “Massive Resistance”.
The novel begins with a white family from Pennsylvania on a trip to Tanzania for a safari. The teen boy, Harry Sylvester Bird, is horrified by his parents’ behavior. His mother is making side comments about food and cleanliness, while his father is making pointedly racist statements. In addition, Harry seems alienated from his family physically. Harry is also quite taken by the very dark skin of some of the trip guides, to the point that he seems to want to either become like one of them, or be adopted by one of them. The trip reaches a kind of head when Harry’s father, not for the first time, asks two young Black women (who are also guests on the trip) for service, and when they tell him, again, that they are also tourists, he asks them why they would come to Africa if they’re already from Africa and can just see animals where they’re from. He also steals a jeep and tries to drive closer to the animals and has to be restrained.
When we return to the US, we find Harry becoming more isolated from his family, and trying to figure out what kind of life he wants for himself. As he decides to go to college New York, we also see him begin the process of alienating himself from his own whiteness (not in the sense of confronting it in a real way) by running away from it. In college, we find that’s he decided that he’s “trans-racial” and goes to support groups to figure out how to bring out the inner-blackness he knows he feels. He also begins to date a young woman from Nigeria who is also a student at his school. The story develops alongside their relationship, as well as with Harry’s attempts at self-discovery, which are very obviously doomed. Also Covid is happening!
The novel luckily doesn’t lean into the “trans-racialism” very much, especially since it’s not a real thing, but uses it as a way to look at a reaction toward whiteness that Harry cannot seem to face. Rather than attempting to dismantle privilege and white supremacy in his life, he tries to skirt it, not in the way that lots of white people (and this is pretty successful in general) by denying it and ignoring, but by reacting violently against it in himself. This obviously doesn’t work, and we’re luckily let off the hook a little in the ways this could have been worse. But rather than be a Rachel Dolezal type character, Harry is something a lot scarier, a much more familiar progressive person who very much feels like he’s “done the work” or rather doesn’t need to do the work at all, because those bad feelings? He doesn’t have them actually. We are treated to some very clear moments that suggest that not only is he everything he fears, in a lot of ways he’s worse.
The novel is also, thankfully, a farce. And I don’t mean that in a critical way, but as a recognition of tone. It’s a farce in the literary sense (and is often very funny). It’s kind of a Adrian Mole meets Black Swan Green meets Paul Beatty. Harry is an absurd character painted against an absurd backdrop of New York (and the US) during Covid, where white supremacy and rugged individual did everything it could to refuse to hold itself even remotely accountable, except through extreme aversion to anything it didn’t want to do, while also patting itself on the back.
This is the second novel by Chinelo Okparanta and I wanted to read it after I read an article she wrote describing her process in deciding on the subject of the book. The cover and the title don’t offer much in terms of insight into the book itself, although I wonder if the character’s name is partly based on Harry F. Byrd from Virginia, the former Senator and governor who helped to construct and institute Virginia’s racist reaction to Brown v Board of Education known as “Massive Resistance”.
The novel begins with a white family from Pennsylvania on a trip to Tanzania for a safari. The teen boy, Harry Sylvester Bird, is horrified by his parents’ behavior. His mother is making side comments about food and cleanliness, while his father is making pointedly racist statements. In addition, Harry seems alienated from his family physically. Harry is also quite taken by the very dark skin of some of the trip guides, to the point that he seems to want to either become like one of them, or be adopted by one of them. The trip reaches a kind of head when Harry’s father, not for the first time, asks two young Black women (who are also guests on the trip) for service, and when they tell him, again, that they are also tourists, he asks them why they would come to Africa if they’re already from Africa and can just see animals where they’re from. He also steals a jeep and tries to drive closer to the animals and has to be restrained.
When we return to the US, we find Harry becoming more isolated from his family, and trying to figure out what kind of life he wants for himself. As he decides to go to college New York, we also see him begin the process of alienating himself from his own whiteness (not in the sense of confronting it in a real way) by running away from it. In college, we find that’s he decided that he’s “trans-racial” and goes to support groups to figure out how to bring out the inner-blackness he knows he feels. He also begins to date a young woman from Nigeria who is also a student at his school. The story develops alongside their relationship, as well as with Harry’s attempts at self-discovery, which are very obviously doomed. Also Covid is happening!
The novel luckily doesn’t lean into the “trans-racialism” very much, especially since it’s not a real thing, but uses it as a way to look at a reaction toward whiteness that Harry cannot seem to face. Rather than attempting to dismantle privilege and white supremacy in his life, he tries to skirt it, not in the way that lots of white people (and this is pretty successful in general) by denying it and ignoring, but by reacting violently against it in himself. This obviously doesn’t work, and we’re luckily let off the hook a little in the ways this could have been worse. But rather than be a Rachel Dolezal type character, Harry is something a lot scarier, a much more familiar progressive person who very much feels like he’s “done the work” or rather doesn’t need to do the work at all, because those bad feelings? He doesn’t have them actually. We are treated to some very clear moments that suggest that not only is he everything he fears, in a lot of ways he’s worse.
The novel is also, thankfully, a farce. And I don’t mean that in a critical way, but as a recognition of tone. It’s a farce in the literary sense (and is often very funny). It’s kind of a Adrian Mole meets Black Swan Green meets Paul Beatty. Harry is an absurd character painted against an absurd backdrop of New York (and the US) during Covid, where white supremacy and rugged individual did everything it could to refuse to hold itself even remotely accountable, except through extreme aversion to anything it didn’t want to do, while also patting itself on the back.
August 19, 2022
I’ve been waffling between 2 and 3 stars. This book sells itself as satire but I feel it only makes half hearted attempts at that. The concept is interesting and there is potential with the main characters’ clueless white privilege in the face of racist parents. There are moments that are great but the overall delivery is lacking. The end seemed particularly lackluster. There are much better was to spend your reading time and book budget.
June 18, 2022
I entered (and won) the Goodreads giveaway for this book based on its description - it sounded very interesting. And it started out well, but the further I read, the more disappointed I became. The book centers around, and is narrated by, the title character, Harry Sylvester Bird, a young white man who wants to become black. I'm sure there's some level of satire here that I'm not getting. The book begins when 14-year-old Harry is on a trip to Tanzania with his almost comically inattentive and racist parents. Harry becomes enchanted and attracted (though in a non-sexual way) to a dark-skinned African man whom he refers to as the "darkest man." After returning home to Pennsylvania, Harry embarks on a "senior project" (he's now in high school) of rebuilding a nearby town that's been destroyed by underground fires. This whole section has a kind of dreamlike quality in that it seems very unrealistic. Harry also encounters a strange old man in the town - a bizarre, repeated experience that made little sense to me, and is dropped as the novel progresses. The last half of the book places Harry (who now, inexplicably, goes by the name "G-Dawg") in New York City (and later a trip to Ghana) where he meets and falls in love with Maryam, a young woman from Nigeria. Most of the rest of the novel focuses on the ups and downs of their relationship. Harry is a very unlikable character, and I couldn't ever find a reason that Maryam would actually like him. Like I said, I think I missed the whole point of the book - it was unrealistic with characters that were not fleshed out. There must be a satirical element here that completely passed me by; otherwise, it makes no sense. Quite a disappointment from what the description led me to believe. The further I read in the book, the fewer stars I felt this one deserved.
February 14, 2022
Okay, so I don’t know if I just wasn’t the target audience for this book, but the synopsis of this story didn’t really prepare me for what I was about to read. This story does, in fact, follow Harry Sylvester Bird through a 10-year span of time, and he explores his true identity after leaving his hometown and parents who are all around, pretty ugly humans.
However, the way he tries to “become his true self” was, in my eyes, incredibly offensive and out of touch. I had a really hard time getting through this book because I disliked the main character so much. I felt sick at times with his behaviors and actions that I almost DNF’d multiple times, but pushed through hoping the story would go a different direction. I have had a really hard time figuring out how to rate this, and I still don’t really know. This may be up some people’s ally, but it was not up mine at all. I wouldn’t recommend this book to others. Despite the synopsis saying this was satirical, I didn’t feel like that came through and just found myself angry and sick throughout most of the book.
However, the way he tries to “become his true self” was, in my eyes, incredibly offensive and out of touch. I had a really hard time getting through this book because I disliked the main character so much. I felt sick at times with his behaviors and actions that I almost DNF’d multiple times, but pushed through hoping the story would go a different direction. I have had a really hard time figuring out how to rate this, and I still don’t really know. This may be up some people’s ally, but it was not up mine at all. I wouldn’t recommend this book to others. Despite the synopsis saying this was satirical, I didn’t feel like that came through and just found myself angry and sick throughout most of the book.
August 7, 2022
Some high improbabilities in this one. Harry Sylvester Bird is unhappy with his parents. He could be described as hating them, though from what the book describes you would be hard pressed to grasp the why. I think she failed at really giving the reader enough to feel Harry’s pain.
I kept thinking to myself ok, so they’re racist and inattentive but is that enough to make one want to abdicate from whiteness? I think not. This is clearly written as satire and as such contains some humorous moments but not nearly enough to cover for its flawed lack of a strong foundation. Just ended up being barely average. So sorry.
I kept thinking to myself ok, so they’re racist and inattentive but is that enough to make one want to abdicate from whiteness? I think not. This is clearly written as satire and as such contains some humorous moments but not nearly enough to cover for its flawed lack of a strong foundation. Just ended up being barely average. So sorry.
February 13, 2023
(Sliding scale of 3.5 to 4 stars)
Oh, Mr. Bird, you are quite the cuckoo. You are not well in the head.
Where to start?
I am:
1. Female
2. White
As far as I know, I'm not racist. If I have ANY racist traits in me, they are at a minimal amount, I need them to be pointed out, and I will do my best to eradicate them. If I don't have racist traits at all, I am still learning to pattern my speech, and my actions, to be a better supporter and friend to the black community.
Which is why, reading this book, I simultaneously loved and hated it. Because, SO MUCH OF THIS had me rolling my eyes and going, "G-Dawg... Dude. You dumb." ... THAT WAS THE POINT.
So, BRAVO, MS. OKPARANTA, because you brilliantly succeeded in both intriguing me, and repulsing me, sometimes at the same time.
So, for the first half of the book, I loved it. I liked the description, the flow of the author's words, the situations (both disgusting and amusing) that G-Dawg's parents (Especially Wayne) found themselves in. I felt horrible for him when he and his DNA donors were in Tanzania. I triumphed when G-Dawg threw the 3D printed guns and the machine (WTF WAYNE?!?!) into the river. I applauded when he protected himself against Chevy when Chevy demanded that he gets a job for the Summer and during senior year. I adored Maryam. I expected this to build more towards G-Dawg being a supporter of blacks everywhere.
And then... The second half began. And I hated it.
There were so, so many examples where I was sitting here, going, "G-Dawg, you're so ignorant". That was because, satirically (and brilliantly by the author), he IS a charicature of so, so many white people that do more harm than good because of their ignorance. And I will throw this in there- I've been there. I said the wrong things because I didn't know how hurtful some of my genuinely innocent comments were. I'm better informed, I won't make that mistake again, and I can identify when it happens now.
All babies, of all skin colors, are born innocent. Mankind teaches them to hate. Being born white does not mean you were born racist. It DOES mean that with your skin color, you were born into a very ancient history of racism that you can either embrace, or rise above. With who you are around, that can be easier or harder in either direction. If you rise above, then you owe it to blacks (and other minorities) around you to do what you can to make up a generational debt of terror, inhumanity and disrespect. Learn. Make it better. Do better and don't make it worse.
G-Dawg rejects his whiteness. Meaning, he rejects himself. And in trying to find himself, he loses a very big part of himself- that part that says "I'm acknowledging I'm white. I cannot live the black experience, but I can learn, I can respect, and I can do my best to make sure someone else won't have to live through that again". Even if you only have the opportunity to do it 1 by 1 on a personal level (because you're not able to do so on a larger one), that makes a difference.
Instead of acknowledging his whiteness, in the back half of the book, G-Dawg puts on skin pigment cream (I'll call it blackface, because that's essentially what it is). He doesn't stand up for anyone. He calls children a very derogatory term (because he sees them jumping around). He "eats" with his fingers in Ghana, because "When in Rome...". He acts as if he knows more about the immediate area of Ghana than the people who live there. So many other examples. I know that some of these things are innocently done, but... How can you NOT KNOW how hurtful you're being? Especially when, in this idea that you're internally "black", that you probably heard of how hurtful these things are before?!
And that's another thing: a white guy that feels black on the inside, and wants to be identified as an African (black) man. I know there are white Africans (I was taught by one). But, for a white to want to be black, and claim what is not his/hers/theirs, that feels too close to cultural appropriation.
AND THIS IS THE POINT.
I'm supposed to be upset first with Wayne and Chevy, then at G-Dawg, because I'm supposed to say "WTF, I don't want to be like that!" And change something in myself to reflect it.
So, thank you, Ms. Okparanta, for your book. It hit the nail on the head for whiteness satire!
Oh, Mr. Bird, you are quite the cuckoo. You are not well in the head.
Where to start?
I am:
1. Female
2. White
As far as I know, I'm not racist. If I have ANY racist traits in me, they are at a minimal amount, I need them to be pointed out, and I will do my best to eradicate them. If I don't have racist traits at all, I am still learning to pattern my speech, and my actions, to be a better supporter and friend to the black community.
Which is why, reading this book, I simultaneously loved and hated it. Because, SO MUCH OF THIS had me rolling my eyes and going, "G-Dawg... Dude. You dumb." ... THAT WAS THE POINT.
So, BRAVO, MS. OKPARANTA, because you brilliantly succeeded in both intriguing me, and repulsing me, sometimes at the same time.
So, for the first half of the book, I loved it. I liked the description, the flow of the author's words, the situations (both disgusting and amusing) that G-Dawg's parents (Especially Wayne) found themselves in. I felt horrible for him when he and his DNA donors were in Tanzania. I triumphed when G-Dawg threw the 3D printed guns and the machine (WTF WAYNE?!?!) into the river. I applauded when he protected himself against Chevy when Chevy demanded that he gets a job for the Summer and during senior year. I adored Maryam. I expected this to build more towards G-Dawg being a supporter of blacks everywhere.
And then... The second half began. And I hated it.
There were so, so many examples where I was sitting here, going, "G-Dawg, you're so ignorant". That was because, satirically (and brilliantly by the author), he IS a charicature of so, so many white people that do more harm than good because of their ignorance. And I will throw this in there- I've been there. I said the wrong things because I didn't know how hurtful some of my genuinely innocent comments were. I'm better informed, I won't make that mistake again, and I can identify when it happens now.
All babies, of all skin colors, are born innocent. Mankind teaches them to hate. Being born white does not mean you were born racist. It DOES mean that with your skin color, you were born into a very ancient history of racism that you can either embrace, or rise above. With who you are around, that can be easier or harder in either direction. If you rise above, then you owe it to blacks (and other minorities) around you to do what you can to make up a generational debt of terror, inhumanity and disrespect. Learn. Make it better. Do better and don't make it worse.
G-Dawg rejects his whiteness. Meaning, he rejects himself. And in trying to find himself, he loses a very big part of himself- that part that says "I'm acknowledging I'm white. I cannot live the black experience, but I can learn, I can respect, and I can do my best to make sure someone else won't have to live through that again". Even if you only have the opportunity to do it 1 by 1 on a personal level (because you're not able to do so on a larger one), that makes a difference.
Instead of acknowledging his whiteness, in the back half of the book, G-Dawg puts on skin pigment cream (I'll call it blackface, because that's essentially what it is). He doesn't stand up for anyone. He calls children a very derogatory term (because he sees them jumping around). He "eats" with his fingers in Ghana, because "When in Rome...". He acts as if he knows more about the immediate area of Ghana than the people who live there. So many other examples. I know that some of these things are innocently done, but... How can you NOT KNOW how hurtful you're being? Especially when, in this idea that you're internally "black", that you probably heard of how hurtful these things are before?!
And that's another thing: a white guy that feels black on the inside, and wants to be identified as an African (black) man. I know there are white Africans (I was taught by one). But, for a white to want to be black, and claim what is not his/hers/theirs, that feels too close to cultural appropriation.
AND THIS IS THE POINT.
I'm supposed to be upset first with Wayne and Chevy, then at G-Dawg, because I'm supposed to say "WTF, I don't want to be like that!" And change something in myself to reflect it.
So, thank you, Ms. Okparanta, for your book. It hit the nail on the head for whiteness satire!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2022
This one just didn't really work for me. I believe it is intended to be something of a near-future/alternate reality satire, cast as the coming-of-age story of a boy born white but who believes his true self to be black. For me, it was either: trying to be too many things, or was not fully succeeding at any of the things it was trying to be, or was trying to work in every possible stereotype & viewpoint about race from every vantage.
The story is narrated by Harry, of the title. He is looking back from some future point in his adult life, telling of the years between when he was 14 years old in December 2016 through August 2026. This 10-year span allows the novel to include the 2016 election in America, the coronavirus pandemic, the increasing racial violence and BLM & API movements, and a near-future possibility.
The book is made up of five parts.
The story is narrated by Harry, of the title. He is looking back from some future point in his adult life, telling of the years between when he was 14 years old in December 2016 through August 2026. This 10-year span allows the novel to include the 2016 election in America, the coronavirus pandemic, the increasing racial violence and BLM & API movements, and a near-future possibility.
The book is made up of five parts.
July 29, 2024
I think I had quite high hopes for this book that were not really met. I had expected it to have given some sort of enlightenment to the experience of considering oneself very accepting and yet actually being racist or to have validated the experience of interacting with someone with these views. However the writing style was a little too poetic for me and honestly I was not really sure where the book was going for the first two thirds of it. The main character is a white man who identifies as Black and supposedly rejects the racist ideals of his parents, yet still considers himself superior to Black people and is jealous of their success. On top of that he decides to go by the name ‘G-dawg’ which honestly made reading it so unserious for me. I think the premise of the story had potential yet it was executed in a way that did not really enlighten me to either side of the story. There were some things that could have been explored more, like the conflicting nature of him benefiting from the Purist cult but also attending these sessions to “get rid of his whiteness”. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if it had included Maryam’s POV so that we could have witnessed her journey in realizing who Harry (or G-dawg 🙄) really was and how he was treating her. Instead it felt like the racist things he thought, said or did were explained too literally for someone who already understands the experience of being on the receiving end of them and I would have enjoyed seeing more of Maryam’s thoughts or the surrounding characters reactions. However, it is set in current day, pandemic included, and I thought it was interesting to see the way the author framed the political climate and the groups that represented it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2022
Wow. This book was unexpected and uncomfortable but I give Okapranta major credit for writing such a discussion-worthy satire. Harry - a white boy - is being raised by parents who are racist, clueless, and financially irresponsible in a small college town in Pennsylvania. He greatly dislikes them and escapes to New York as soon as he can. In New York he meets and begins dating a Nigerian woman. This is probably the first book I've ever read where a Black woman writes a from a white male perspective and that's where some of my uncomfortableness comes from in the book. But given that white men have written from people of color and women's perspectives for centuries, I welcome this. There's a ton in this book to digest but in order to appreciate it fully, you need to embrace the satire. ARC provided by NetGalley.
September 2, 2022
This is a book of satire. The premise of the book: a young White male who identifies as Black rejects his racist parents and falls for a Nigerian student. Since this is satire about race, many of the satirical moments are cringe worthy.
The author's attempt to write from a white male’s perspective is admirable but still comes across as a Black woman’s view. The author also includes pandemic references in the book. Readers who seek to escape from the actual pandemic will encounter it heavily in this book.
Because of the author’s use of satire and the subject of race in the book, this would make an interesting book club pick. It will elicit strong opinions for a lively discussion.
I received an advanced copy of the book from Mariner Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
The author's attempt to write from a white male’s perspective is admirable but still comes across as a Black woman’s view. The author also includes pandemic references in the book. Readers who seek to escape from the actual pandemic will encounter it heavily in this book.
Because of the author’s use of satire and the subject of race in the book, this would make an interesting book club pick. It will elicit strong opinions for a lively discussion.
I received an advanced copy of the book from Mariner Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
June 16, 2022
First I would like to say that this book does border on brilliance - the issue with brilliance is that it always comes with quirks that the majority will want to turn away from. The thing with satire is that it is always mimicking the truest bits of life and that may be why so many dislike it. I hated the main character through the majority of the novel. I felt so much sympathy for him at the start and rooted for him to escape and change from his upbringing. I was of course let down by Harry in the end. I also feel like the crowning achievement of the book is giving us a White Savior character without letting the reader have a White Savior. In the end - those who get it, get it and those who don't, can't.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
February 7, 2023
The rundown: Harry Sylvester Bird follows a white man who is deeply uncomfortable with the color of his skin. As a teen, the eponymous Harry Sylvester Bird is disgusted by his bigoted, small-town parents. Unsurprisingly, he decries their racist views and moves to New York City, where he finally feels free to begin living his life as he truly wants to. While there, he joins a self-help group - called Transracial-Anon - for white people ashamed of their whiteness, identifying as a Black man from Africa (thanks to a fascination with the continent he developed while on a family safari vacation in Tanzania as a teen) and insisting that he be called G-Dawg.
The review: Frankly, I found this book to be a delight and absolutely hilarious. As in, I laughed out loud multiple times while reading it. Okparanta really leans into the absurdity of satire to great effect in this of-the-moment investigation of the racial blindness and ignorance of well-meaning white people but not so much that the protagonist becomes a caricature or unrecognizable. (I found the protagonist to be amusing, but some readers might not enjoy Okparanta’s type of humor here and instead find him grating. I’d suggest giving the first few pages a try to see which camp you fall into. If you’re in the latter, this book likely won’t be for you.) He is spectacularly, fascinatingly racist and has absolutely no idea. In fact, the only person who seems to recognize his racism is the Black woman he dates in college, whose judgment is felt in the side-eyed glances she gives him during some of his more obnoxious moments. One of the book’s most important takeaways, I think, is that even as G-Dawg desires to separate himself from the blatant bigotry of his parents and the Purist, white supremacist movement, he’s guilty of making offensive comments to/about Black people and fetishizing his Black girlfriend. As an exploration of how deeply racism runs, even amongst “allies,” this book hits the mark.
The review: Frankly, I found this book to be a delight and absolutely hilarious. As in, I laughed out loud multiple times while reading it. Okparanta really leans into the absurdity of satire to great effect in this of-the-moment investigation of the racial blindness and ignorance of well-meaning white people but not so much that the protagonist becomes a caricature or unrecognizable. (I found the protagonist to be amusing, but some readers might not enjoy Okparanta’s type of humor here and instead find him grating. I’d suggest giving the first few pages a try to see which camp you fall into. If you’re in the latter, this book likely won’t be for you.) He is spectacularly, fascinatingly racist and has absolutely no idea. In fact, the only person who seems to recognize his racism is the Black woman he dates in college, whose judgment is felt in the side-eyed glances she gives him during some of his more obnoxious moments. One of the book’s most important takeaways, I think, is that even as G-Dawg desires to separate himself from the blatant bigotry of his parents and the Purist, white supremacist movement, he’s guilty of making offensive comments to/about Black people and fetishizing his Black girlfriend. As an exploration of how deeply racism runs, even amongst “allies,” this book hits the mark.
July 28, 2022
Thank you to partners @bibliolifestyle, @williammorrowbooks, and @marinerbooks for the #gifted copy!
A satirical, coming-of-age book consisting of a young white man and his journey through growing up with racist parents, living through a pandemic, and navigating life and handling its complexities.
The tone and writing were so smart! I was simultaneously horrified by Harry and also found him endearing. Social commentary felt so deeply engrained paired with humor that left you not sure if you were just uncomfortable or what to think afterwards.
I truly don’t think I’ve ever read a book quite like this one! This book is so unique and may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed it! The audio of this one was done especially well.
A satirical, coming-of-age book consisting of a young white man and his journey through growing up with racist parents, living through a pandemic, and navigating life and handling its complexities.
The tone and writing were so smart! I was simultaneously horrified by Harry and also found him endearing. Social commentary felt so deeply engrained paired with humor that left you not sure if you were just uncomfortable or what to think afterwards.
I truly don’t think I’ve ever read a book quite like this one! This book is so unique and may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed it! The audio of this one was done especially well.
July 16, 2022
Such a smartly written book. It’s satirical, nuanced, thought-provoking—and funny. I hate that I tore right through it, but now I can recommend it to everyone and look forward to Okparanta’a next masterpiece. Definitely worth the hype.
July 26, 2024
This book caused me a physical pain I cannot describe. I was suffering so much. Oh my goodness. Chinelo Okparanta, do you want to kill me?
My single qualm is that even though I understand the role of each part, I felt that it took very long to get to the main plot.
My single qualm is that even though I understand the role of each part, I felt that it took very long to get to the main plot.
July 16, 2022
Witty, scathing, humorous, necessary. This book is a treasure. I appreciate the author’s unique approach to examining race amid the nation’s ongoing reckoning with its uncomfortable past and present.
August 13, 2022
Excellent performance by Robert Petkoff on this audiobook. He really brought this messed-up protagonist and his confusing world to life. Okparanta plays a constant tug-of-war with your sympathy for Harry and I thought it was hilarious. The novel also provides plenty of food for thought and a big-ass mirror for our society at large. Let's not shy away from the discomfort.
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September 18, 2022Interesting premise, too unpleasant for me.
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