From Library Journal
Johnson's theme of moral cowardice sets his tragic story of a mulatto in the United States above other sentimental narratives. The unnamed narrator, the offspring of a black mother and white father, tells of his coming-of-age at the beginning of the 20th century. Light-skinned enough to pass for white but emotionally tied to his mother's heritage, he ends up a failure in his own eyes after he chooses to follow the easier path while witnessing a white mob set fire to a black man. Reader Allen Gilmore contributes a fine reading. Recommended, with hopes for an unabridged edition in the future.?Sandy Glover, West Linn P.L., Ore.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man ANNOTATION
A ground-breaking document of Afro-American culture.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
African-American poet and novelist's pioneering 1912 novel parallels his own life, examines American caste and class system.
Remarkable novel relates, through an anonymous narrator, events in the life of an American of mixed ethnicity whose exceptional abilities allow him to move freely in society-from the rural South to the urban North and eventually, Europe. A revolutionary work which not only probes the psychological aspects of passing for white but also examines the American caste and class system.
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