Ralph Ellison: A Biography

Biographies are usually hit or miss. So much depends not on the life the subject led, but on how the storyteller presents it, which, of course, depends on how intimately he or she has lived with the subject, which, ultimately, depends on how much of a paper trail the subject left behind for the storyteller, which, finally, depends on whether the subject thought his or her life was worth preserving at the time he or she was living it. Following this brand of home-spun logic, Ralph Ellison, his wife, Fanny, and their friends and correspondents evidently knew a biographer would want to investigate the puzzling, charmed, but unmistakably heartbreaking life of the author of Invisible Man one day; for the breadth, depth and range of sources Arnold Rampersad canvassed to piece together this significant biography is staggering. On the surface Ellison could very easily be (and has been) dismissed as an elitist, an Uncle Tom, a one-hit wonder, a token Negro; just as easily he could be lauded as a genius, a tribute to his race, the standard bearer of black American literature. But in Rampersad's hands he is nothing short of a man worthy of unyielding compassion. Lest we forget, Ralph Ellison was a black man who in the middle of this nation's troubled twentieth-century aspired for entry into the privileged American society through art and, for all intents and purposes, achieved just that with his first book. Without ever having tried his hand at a novel, Ellison devoted nearly seven years - practically his entire thirties - to writing Invisible Man. Chew on that for a moment. Just let it sink in. He had that much belief, that much faith, in himself at a time in our nation's history when blacks had all but lost their faith in American democracy. And the literary world validated that faith with the highest honor given to an American novelist, the National Book Award. Besting the likes of his literary hero, Ernest Hemingway, Ralph Ellison became the first black author to win the award in 1953, a year before the Brown decision, two years before the Rosa Parks would refuse to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. What does that kind of success do to a relatively young man, especially one whose roots were as humble and unassuming as Ralph Ellison's? In what ways does it affect his psychology, not to mention the trajectory of his life? In a certain respect the meat of this biography is an investigation into the trappings of fame, unhinged ambition, uncompromising perfectionism, idealism, and rugged individualism. One wouldn't be too far off in comparing Ellison's meteoric rise to literary stardom in the middle of the century to a high school phenom being drafted in the NBA Lottery straight out of high school. One might even say his rise was even more dramatic, seeing as the immediate success of Invisible Man among the white literary elite signaled an unparalleled intellectual achievement in a society that customarily denigrated black intelligence. But the same

This was a really good book--but it was very long. Rampersad conveys: * The good, bad and ugly of Ellison's time at Tuskeegee. * The cantankerous personality of Ralph Ellison--his opinionated personality, his love of the Western intellectual tradition, his male chauvinism and his love of WASPishness and aristocracy. Ironically, Ellison was not only a symbol of macho intellectualism, he was also a victim of it when he's confronted by "Black Power" students during that era. Black nationalists criticized him for being silent regarding oppression of Blacks and subservient to rich white society people; Ellison criticized young Black nationalistic writers (in a blanket characterization) for poor or unhoned literary skills and putting message ahead of craft. After reading this book, now I can see that both sides were partially right. (The most painful for me of Ellison's silence was his cheery participation on the board of Colonial Williamsburg in an era where they used the term "servants" but not "slaves" or "slavery".) * The gossip about prominent intellectuals was interesting. If you think rappers are hostile to each other, they have nothing on the intellectuals of Ellison's era who had grudges against each other, hurled essays at each other, alliances, and played politics with the awarding of club memberships, board positions and literary awards. Pretty funny. *The devotion of Ellison's wife who supported his writing career (before Invisible Man was published) by working full-time, then coming home and doing all of the cooking. By the end of this book, the burden of the work-in-progress was paining me as much as it was Ralph Ellison. If only he could have completed it! I still have not read Invisible Man. I might, I might not. But I will never forget the personality of the man as evidenced in this bio. Ralph Ellison had a fascinating life and this book captures the journey!

Ralph Ellison did not have an easy road to literary greatness. Orphaned at three his mother forced to work as a domestic he suffered the injuries and insults of poverty and racism. Ramperad tells the story of Ellison's childhood , early development, his school years his apprenticeship in the world of music, the background of the world he knew in Oklahoma City and later on a student Tuskegee in Alabama where he learned much but never got his degree. The years in New York and the relationships with Richard Wright his true literary patron, and jazz trumpeter Al Rushton form too part of the background to the creation os his masterpiece. While his second wife Fanny worked and supported him it took Ellison six years to put together the mythic, symbolic, realistic masterpiece ' Invisible Man'. Rampersand then tells the story of the long frustration, of the long- awaited, long- worked on second novel which never chrystallized as it could not come up to Ellison's own strict standard of the greatness he sought. He tells of the intellectual Ellison's world of friendships, and his often strained relation with the black community. He tells of the many influences of his reading from Eliot's 'Waste Land' to Dostoevsky, Faulkner and Richard Wright. He speaks of the deleterious effect of the many honors Ellison received on his writing.He too gives a picture of an aloof, and less than kind and helping person of someone who did not extend himself to help young black writers and suffered from criticism of many in the black community. He explores Ellison's identity as American writer and his complicated understanding of the exclusivist higher culture he sought to belong to and redefine. He also tells the story of a husband who rewarded the wife did everything to help him with infidelity and abuse. Ellison's quarrelsome nature manifested itself everywhere he went, but had a particular gusto at home. Despite this the couple made it through over forty years together. Rampersand above all tells the story of a proud, dedicated artist who would not settle for anything from himself but the highest in quality. He tells the story of a brilliant writer and mind who somehow could not completely harnass in the years after his masterful opening the kind of grand visionary work he wanted to write. The story of a writer whose first great first act was too difficult for he himself to follow.

Arnold Rampersad has written a magisterial and eminently fair biography of one of this country's most important, yet most inaccessible, novelists--Ralph Ellison. The achievement of this book is to compel us to recognize the genius that went into the writing of Invisible Man yet also to regret the impediments that prevented Ellison from ever completing a second novel. It is a story of an immensely ambitious man who, once becoming famous, set himself even more distant goals that he could never reach. Frustrated, hurting within, he hurt others around him, particularly other black people (including his long-suffering wife). At the end, he was alone with himself and his honors, his fame, but also with a bitterness that was at once his protection and his weapon. Rampersad sees all of this and describes it with an unerring eye. A superb book.

This is IT! The definitive biography of one of America's most complex, brilliant and controversial writers. I fully expected Rampersad to deliver, having LOVED his bios on Langston Hughes, Jackie Robinson and Arthur Ashe. I received this as a gift two weeks ago and I devoured it with relish. Rampersad delivers... the scholarship, the lyrical writing, the delicious details that illuminate. Don't dare miss this one.