Oreo (novel): Difference between revisions

| publisher = [[Northeastern University Press]]

| release_date = {{Date1974 and age|1974}}

'''''Oreo''''' is a 1974 satirical novel by American writer [[Fran Ross]], a journalist and, briefly, a comedy writer for [[Richard Pryor]]. The novel, addressing issues of a mixed-heritage child, was considered "before its time" and went out of print until [[Harryette Mullen]] rediscovered the novel and brought it out of obscurity.<ref>Harryette Mullen, [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3250639?uid=3739656&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=55864635773 l "Apple Pie with Oreo Crust"], ''JSTOR'', 2002.</ref>

''Oreo'' is a [[picaresque novel]], that revolvesrevolving around ourits eponymous picaroon. The work, Oreo.with Itits iswitty acritiques fictionalof talesocial attitudes about the adventuresrace and conflictsethnicity, she also can be characterized as [[Menippean satire|Menippean Satire]]. ''Oreo''<nowiki/>'s heroine faces onvarious adventures and conflicts during her search for her long-absent father. ItSome have said the work falls under the category of [[Post-soul|Post -Soul]] Aesthetic, modern works that expands upon the possibilities of the Black experience, andif arguablynot the [[Trey Ellis#Genre|New Black Aesthetic]], works that describesdescribing the black experience from the perspective of the culturally-hybrid, second-generation middle class. The comedic style of the novel helps to subvert the trope of the "tragic mulatto" and position Oreo as a "thriving hybrid".

The novelsnovel uses many different languages, including [[African American Vernacular English|African-American vernacular]], Yiddish, superstandard language, louise-ese, math, rhyme, singing.

One of the most important aspects of the novel is Ross’ use of humor. As one critic comments, "her throwaway lines have more zing than most comic writers’ studied arias."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wall|first1=Patricia|title=Review: 'Oreo', a Sandwich Cookie of a Feminist Novel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/books/review-oreo-a-sandwich-cookie-of-a-feminist-comic-novel.html?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|date= July 14, 2015|publisher=NYT|accessdate= December 5, 2015}}</ref> Her use of language is incredibly playful and acerbic, both prosaic and poetic. In her foreword to the novel, author Danzy Senna calls Ross a comic mulatto, stating that her verbal precocity turns the word on its head.<ref>{{cite webmagazine|last1=Danzy|first1=Senna|title=An Overlooked Classic About the Comedy of Race|url=http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/an-overlooked-classic-about-the-comedy-of-race|websitemagazine=The New Yorker|publisher=Condé Nast|accessdate= December 5, 2015}}</ref>

The novel was adapted by [[Adam Davenport]] into a screenplay intended as a starring vehicle for [[Keke Palmer]]. The project is yet to be produced.

[[Category:PicaresqueAmerican picaresque novels]]