A review by kikiandarrowsfishshelf
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson

4.0

Johnson's fictional autobiography of a man who can pass and who, at first, doesn't realize he is black, undoubtedly draws from his own life. The literature student can see the forerunner of Baldwin and Wright in this work as well as comments on the America of his time. In many ways, Johnson gives voice to comments about race and racial relations that bear repeating today. In particular, he foregrounds the question of prespective and living as a minority in a white world.

Some of the most beautiful passages of the book concern ragtime music and the cake walk.