Invisible Man (Modern Library) (Vintage International)

by Ralph Ellison

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Book cover for Invisible Man

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NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this deeply compelling novel and epic milestone of American literature, a nameless narrator tells his story from the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years

He describes growing up in a Black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood," before retreating amid violence and confusion.

Originally published in 1952 as the first novel by a then unknown author, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century. The book is a passionate and witty tour de force of style, strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, James Joyce, and Dostoevsky.
  • ISBN10 0679732764
  • ISBN13 9780679732761
  • Publish Date 14 March 1995 (first published 25 June 1970)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Vintage