Includes bibliographical references (p. [569]-624) and index.
Contents:
21. Index. 2. Leaving the territory -- 3. In a land most strange -- 4. A shock of transition -- 5. The recognition of necessity -- 6. The numbed and the seething -- 7. A mighty book, a mighty theme -- 8. The agon of writing -- 9. In the home stretch -- 10. Finish line -- 11. Annus mirabilis -- 12. Second act -- 13. Adventure in Rome -- 14. The pleasures of home -- 15. Hanging fire -- 16. Tell it like it is, baby -- 17. A "lone-star" Negro -- 18. Professor in the humanities -- 19. The monkey on his back -- 20. The uncanny penetration of the past -- 21. Flying home -- Books by Ralph Ellison -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index.
Summary:
The definitive biography of an important American cultural intellectual of the twentieth century--Ralph Ellison, author of the masterpiece Invisible Man. In 1953, Ellison's explosive story of a young black man's search for truth and identity catapulted him to national prominence. Ellison earned many honors, but his failure to publish a second novel, despite years of striving, haunted him for the rest of his life. Rampersad, the first scholar given complete access to Ellison's papers, provides a complex portrait of an unusual artist and human being. This biography describes a man of magnetic personality who counted Saul Bellow, Langston Hughes, Robert Penn Warren, Richard Wright, Richard Wilbur, Albert Murray, and John Cheever among his closest friends; a man whose life and art were shaped mainly by his unyielding desire to produce magnificent art and by his resilient faith in the moral and cultural strength of America.--From publisher description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.