Invisible ManInvisible Man is a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952. A first novel by an unknown writer, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks, won the National Book Award for fiction, and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century. The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood," and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. The book is a passionate and witty tour de force of style, strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, Joyce, and Dostoevsky. |
Common terms and phrases
ahead ain't asked Barrelhouse battle royal beneath Bledsoe blood boo'ful Brockway Brother Jack Brotherhood caint called campus chair chitterlings Chthonian cold crowd daddy-o damn dark doll door dream drink eyes face feeling felt fighting floor forward give glass Golden Day grin Hambro hand happened Harlem head hear heard hell hot street hurried inside invisible knew laughed leave light listen looked Louis Armstrong MacDuffy mahn mean mind moved never nigger night Norton Perhaps pushed Ralph Ellison remember Rinehart Sambo seemed shouted smile someone sound Sparland speech stared started stood stop street suddenly Supercargo sure T. S. Eliot talk tell there's things thought Tod Clifton told tried trolley rails trying turned voice waiting walk watched What's white folks woman words Wrestrum yelled young