num_pages: 439
description: First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature. For not only does Ralph Ellison's nightmare journey across the racial divide tell unparalleled truths about the nature of bigotry and its effects on the minds of both victims and perpetrators, it gives us an entirely new model of what a novel can be.As he journeys from the Deep South to the streets and basements of Harlem, from a horrifying "battle royal" where black men are reduced to fighting animals, to a Communist rally where they are elevated to the status of trophies, Ralph Ellison's nameless protagonist ushers readers into a parallel universe that throws our own into harsh and even hilarious relief. Suspenseful and sardonic, narrated in a voice that takes in the symphonic range of the American language, black and white, Invisible Man is one of the most audacious and dazzling novels of our century.
language: English
title: Invisible Man
titlecomplete: Invisible Man
characters: Brother Jack, Tod Clifton, Unnamed Narrator, Mary Rambo, Mr. Norton, Sybil (Invisible Man), Lucius Brockway, Ras the Exhorter, Dr. Hebert Bledsoe, Jim Trueblood
genres: American, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Novels, School, Literature, Race, Classics, African American, Fiction
ratings_count: 182938
places: New York City, New York, Alabama, Harlem, New York City, New York, The United States of America
awards: awardedAt: -536428800000
name: National Book Award
category: Fiction
publisher: Random House