The Quest of the Silver Fleece

Who else but Du Bois could provide so much history, economics, romance, and drama in one book. I could not put the book down. I wonder how much, if any, influence Du Bois had on Toni Morrison, Edward Jones, and Ishmael Reed. This book, written in 1911, has themes and characters like those in "Song of Solomon", "Aunt Hagars Children", and "Flight to Canada". I read this book during the Obama quest for the presidency I kept thinking/feeling while reading, we sure have come a long way.

Du Bois himself called The Quest "an economic study of some merit." Wow, it sure was an emotionally engaging economic study to read! This book is a page-turner. Du Bois attempts to take his reader into the heart of American neoslavery without using the traditional form of slave narrative. The fictional work of this famed writer of "The Souls of Black Folk," is a penetrating glance into soul of a nation built on dehumanizing labor.