The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2013566.html

Despite the title, this is actually a novel whose unnamed narrator, a light-skinned African-American of the late 19th/ early 20th century, undergoes various travails including whether to abandon his career as a (black) musician and settle down for a dull life in the (white) middle class. I see Wikipedia suggesting that the author intended it as an ironic reflection on the first-person narratives of the day, so I guess I may not have the full context. It didn't really work for me as a novel; too many incidents which though interesting in their own right didn't really add up to a narrative structure. The anonymity of the narrator distanced me further from the story. Still, it's short. ( )

"It's no disgrace to be black, but it's often very inconvenient." (p72)

I believe that best describes this book and its resolution; how life existed after the Civil War, & in this time remains so for many. ( )

The fictionalized story of a fair-skinned colored man who must decide whether he wants to live life as a black man, or leave everything and pass as white. ( )

While this novel in the form of a first person narrative by James Weldon Johnson was published in the early 1900s, it has plenty to say on the subject of race and identity that speaks directly to the contemporary reader.

While this novel in the form of a first person narrative by James Weldon Johnson was published in the early 1900s, it has plenty to say on the subject of race and identity that speaks directly to the contemporary reader.