O.K., I've thought about Black Girl/White Girl for a few days now. On the down side, I did not like anybody in this book. Genna was so spineless, her father was detestable, likewise her mother and Minette - aaargh! Minette was one of those people who, even though I knew that the things done to her were reprehensible, I could not help thinking that she brought on some of it herself. I'm not talking about the harassment, but she was just so unlikeable, self-involved and superior and she seemed to revel in her annoying qualities that it was easy to see why no one liked her and nobody outside of Genna, wanted to be her friend. I just wanted her to go away. And Genna was even worse. After a while I wanted to slap her. Get over it. Minette is not likeable and you do not have to spend so much time trying to like her or making excuses for her. Sure, having to fraternize with unpleasant people can't be helped some of the time, but beyond trying to make the best of it, time spent trying to convince yourself that you have to make a friend out of someone, when they've done nothing to merit the effort, is time wasted. On the other hand, in Genna's defense, she was raised with a giant helping of liberal left/guilt thinking, forcefed to her by her parents (her father especially), so she was, to some degree, unable to keep herself from acting as she did. It's hard to know yourself - to know what you think and feel - when raised by such people. And I'm not talking about liberal 60's parents only. I was raised by a 60's conservative parent of the same stripe, personality-wise, and it was some time before I was able to think for myself.
So - although I did not like the people, the time-period or much of the story, I still think this was a good book, if for no other reason than that I have continued to think about it since I finished it. For that I give it three and a half stars. I don't think that I will be reading Oates again for a while just yet. Maybe when I feel myself getting too happy I might try her again just to keep everything in balance. But for now - not so much. ( )

there isn't enough room for my entire review here..so i will direct you to my blog:

http://jayditreader.blogspot.com

for the complete review....thank you ( )

Well, first off, this is NOT a book about race--despite what the title leads you to believe. This is a book about dysfunctional families, and the politics and atmosphere of the Vietnam and post-Vietnam era. The story of two girls (one black, one white) share a room during freshman year in college is merely the framework for the story of the white girl's family (mostly her father).

I can't say that this framework was a good one for telling this story, but I can say that the writing and story was engaging and held me to the very end. It did keep me guessing.

I sympathized with a few of the characters, but didn't like any of them. That made it hard for me hard to rate the book very high.

This was my first Joyce Carol Oates. I think I enjoyed it enough to check out others. If anybody has any suggestions as to what the next should be, please forward them on. ( )

This book, set in 1974, handles the issue of race in our country in an unusual way. We find out early on that Genna Hewett-Meade's black college roommate, Minette Swift, dies under mysterious circumstances and then Oates unravels the details of Genna life and her relationship with Minette. Genna was raised by liberal social anarchists of the sixties who instill in her a fascination with black culture. However, Minette has personality issues of her own that are overlooked simply because of her race. An interesting look at issues of race in the 1970s that remain relevant today. ( )

An absolutely engaging look into the relationship between two young girls away from home for the first time.

Genna is almost painfully earnest in her attempts to befriend her Black roommate. The daughter of a notorious civil rights activist, she specifically requested to be in an "interracial" living situation and frequently daydreamed about the amazing friendship she would develop with her soon-to-be Black roommate.

Minette, however, is quite different than the woman Genna imagined. Unlike the "other" Black girls attending this all-women college in the 1970s, Minette is completely indifferent to her roommate and to her classmates. She is distinctly drawn by Oates -- a well-known mysterious figure on campus, who is always recognized, but still always apart.

As Minette unravels throughout the school year, Gemma continues to do whatever she can to please Minette, help Minette -- but it is pretty clear, despite (and perhaps because of) her liberal upbringing, that Genna has no idea who Minette is or what she needs. Oates does a fantastic job of leaving us uneasy with ourselves... it takes a lot of work to fully sympathize with Minette, no matter how much we may want to. You have to imagine Genna, despite her eagerness to love and understand, feels the same way.

A pageturner. One of my favorite Oates works. ( )