James Weldon Johnson

Presents a personal perspective on the American light-skinned Negro's experience in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man

Heleah Soulati

Sarah Smith

Beautifully and unabashedly illuminates the shadowed assumptions of the race question. The narrator speaks without bias on the experiences that shape his fluid identity. This effectively allows the reader to interpret these experiences with the vantage points that both lenses offer. Most poignant to me were the instances in which he related prejudices that are near identical to events taking place today, over 100 years after initial publishing. 

Truly eloquent and thought provoking.

Jeni Enjaian

I have to admit that it wasn't until I pulled up this page to write the review that I realized that this book was fiction not memoir. That makes such a difference and likely would have affected my perception of the book as I read. That being said, the following is my review of the book as read while under the perception of near non-fiction status.
First, the chronology in the book is a bit muddled. I had difficulty placing the book in the right decade which made for some confusion. That may be my fault but I do think that Johnson could have clarified a bit. Second, the narrative is smooth flowing, easy to read and at times rather grandiose. Third (take into account the above disclaimer) the grandiose nature of the narrative made it hard to discern what was fiction (altered perception) and what was real. Turns out, it was all fiction. That makes a big difference in perception.
I can't say that I recommend this book but it's not bad, pretty middling.

Caitlin Moore

Laura Hurst

kate humphreys 

Bergen Anders Nelson Eickhoff

Annaliese Taylor

Ali Cardelli

Mallory Foutch

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The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man

Reviews