Oreo

De: Fran Ross

Narrado por: Robin Miles

A pioneering, dazzling satire about a biracial black girl from Philadelphia searching for her Jewish father in New York City.

Oreo is raised by her maternal grandparents in Philadelphia. Her black mother tours with a theatrical troupe, and her Jewish deadbeat dad disappeared when she was an infant, leaving behind a mysterious note that triggers her quest to find him. What ensues is a playful, modernized parody of the classical odyssey of Theseus with a feminist twist, immersed in seventies pop culture, and mixing standard English, black vernacular, and Yiddish with wisecracking aplomb. Oreo, our young hero, navigates the labyrinth of sound studios and brothels and subway tunnels in Manhattan, seeking to claim her birthright while unwittingly experiencing and triggering a mythic journey of self-discovery like no other.

©1974 Frances D. Ross, 2015 Danny Senna (foreword), 2000 Harryette Mullen (afterword) (P)2016 Recorded Books

Excellent book, superb performance

Robin Miles does a great job with both African American and Yiddish dialects. Well worth the listen!

All over the place

I understand what she was trying to do, but the book was all over the place. It was like someone rattling on and on. I may finish it one day but right now I have to let it go.

A norms challenging and funny tale

An engaging and snarky story of a young woman who is mixed race and religion - African American and Jewish. She satirizes every ethnicity. It is written in a light humorous style yet it has deep things to say about our culture(s).

Pretty good.

Pretty hilarious. An exploration of the hybridity of identity. Told as a version of the myth of Theseus. Kind of a difficult book, but certainly worth it.