[1][2][3] Blackass is a story about a young Nigerian Furo Wariboko,[4] who wakes up on the eve of a job interview to discover that he has transformed into a white guy overnight.

As he adjusts to his new appearance, he meets Arinze, who offers Furo a far more lucrative job than he expected.

[5] The Financial Times called Blackass "strange (and) compelling, (...with) something to tell us all", and explicitly compared it to Kafka's The Metamorphosis.

[3] Writing in The Guardian, Helon Habila lauded Barrett for "his ability to satirise the ridiculous extents people, especially Lagosians, go to in order to appear important.

"[2] Claire Fallon for the Huffington Post found the novel to be "blunt (and) transparently written", but also "subtle (and) circumspect.