The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

by James Weldon Johnson, Sam Halliday (Introduction)

Overview

Powerful and unflinching, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is a stark portrait of black experience in late nineteenth-century America and remains relevant to this day.

Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is introduced by Dr. Sam Halliday.

James Weldon Johnson’s fictional narrator first learns about his black heritage from a schoolteacher, a discovery which sparks a lifelong search for his place in the world. After his beloved mother dies, he embarks on a journey across America and beyond, first finding refuge in Georgia’s all-black church community. There, his passion and skill for music flourishes and takes him from New York to Europe, playing ragtime for a rich white gentleman. Back in America’s South, he witnesses an event so terrifying that it drives him to turn his back on his own heritage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529069204
Publisher:	Macmillan Collector's Library
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	318,440
Product dimensions:	3.70(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland, 1818. He was separated from his mother as a baby and lived with his grandmother up to the age of eight, when he was sent to live as a house servant, a field hand, and then a ship caulker. He escaped to New York in 1938 and seven years later published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an autobiography of his life as a slave, which became an instant bestseller. Douglass rose to fame as a powerful orator and spent the rest of his life campaigning for equality. He became a national leader of the abolitionist movement, a consultant to Abraham Lincoln in the civil rights movement and a passionate supporter of the women’s rights movement. He died in 1895.

Table of Contents

Introduction Suggestions for Further Reading A Note on the Text Preface to the Original Edition of 1912

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EX-COLORED MAN

Explanatory Notes

Editorial Reviews

The fictional account of an ambiguously black man’s expedition into America’s hard heart . . . . The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is a revolutionary text. It takes as its core understanding that racism is first a way of seeing the world . . . . Recognized today as one of the cornerstones of the Harlem Renaissance, [Johnson’s novel] still proves itself to be as forward-thinking and ambitious as any of its successors.” —from the Introduction by Gregory Pardlo

From the Publisher

Written anonymously in 1912, this civil rights classic tells the story of a biracial man who has to choose whether to embrace his black half or live a more comfortable life as a white man. Initially, the book was of little note, but after being rereleased in 1927 by a major publisher and with Johnson’s name on the cover, it became a popular Harlem Renaissance work. Narrator Richard Allen has a formal, deep voice that is reminiscent of radio announcers of the 1920s. He overemphasizes diction, pace, and affect, a style that sounds forced and stilted now but would sound perfectly at home in the early twentieth century. In a sense, he performs the book rather than simply reading it, and for the most part it works as a historical curiosity. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2013 - AudioFile