Hard to believe that this book isn't more widely read. ( )

Very well-crafted, and a fascinating look at the process of living and identifying as a different race. ( )

The preface of this book is very important. If you want to really know about race in America, you should read this book. Despite the fact that it was written long ago, we still need to be aware of our racial history. American should be color or race blind if we are to survive. No race should receive the treatment described in this book.

FROM AMAZON: First published in 1912, The Autobiography of an Ex–Colored Man is the story of an unnamed, light-skinned, biracial narrator born in a small Georgia town during the years following the Civil War. He knows nothing about race—until he and his Black mother move to Connecticut and an episode at his school forces her to explain things to him.

As the narrator grows up, he pursues a higher education and begins traveling to cities like New York and Paris. He develops desires and ambitions, but everything changes when he returns to the South and witnesses the lynching of a Black man. The horror of the scene persuades him to live as white, but this decision comes at a cost . . .

The Autobiography of an Ex–Colored Man covered issues and themes not usually seen in the literature of its day. It offered a critical examination of race in society—as well as a look into Black society most white readers were unfamiliar with at the time. ( )

I will say that James Weldon Johnson really accomplished what he hoped for in this novel. I really felt like I was reading an actual autobiography. A very interesting story. The lack of contractions made the language feel awkward at times. A good reader, but the writing a bit stilted. I think that made it feel more like the real story of a man's life, a man who wasn't a writer. Bill Andrew Quinn has a wonderful melodious voice, a pleasure to listen to. ( )

The slimness of this novel belies the breadth and depth of its exploration of the racial and social divide in post-Reconstruction America.

We are whisked through the protagonist's relatively fortunate life, where his "Italian" complexion allows him access to white privilege while his upbringing allows him to also maintain an access to Black culture and community. Through this back-and-forth across the two cultures, he presents his experiences life as a Black-but-passing-for-white man in and outside of America.

The title forever hangs at the back of the reader's mind through the protagonist's various travels. At what point will he seek the "easy" way out? There are some essay-ish moments which the novel is clearly built around on to build up to the inevitable titular moment. But instead of being clunky or out-of-place I found them remarkable in how the author does not shy away from presenting opposing arguments as well as exposing the hypocrisy of both sides. Overall it feels like the academic brother of the more psychological and emotionally-charged Passing by Nella Larsen. ( )