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The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
James Weldon Johnson's emotionally gripping novel is a landmark in black literary history and, more than eighty years after its original anonymous publication, a classic of American fiction.
The first fictional memoir ever written by a black person, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man influenced a generation of writers during the Harlem Renaissance and served as eloquent inspiration for Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, and Richard Wright. In the 1920s and since, it has also given white readers a startling new perspective on their own culture, revealing to many the double standard of racial identity imposed on black Americans.
Narrated by a mulatto man whose light skin allows him to "pass" for white, the novel describes a pilgrimage through America's color lines at the turn of the century--from a black college in Jacksonville to an elite New York nightclub, from the rural South to the white suburbs of the Northeast.
This is a powerful, unsentimental examination of race in America, a hymn to the anguish of forging an identity in a nation obsessed with color. And, as Arna Bontemps pointed out decades ago, "the problems of the artist [as presented here] seem as contemporary as if the book had been written this year."
The first fictional memoir ever written by a black person, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man influenced a generation of writers during the Harlem Renaissance and served as eloquent inspiration for Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, and Richard Wright. In the 1920s and since, it has also given white readers a startling new perspective on their own culture, revealing to many the double standard of racial identity imposed on black Americans.
Narrated by a mulatto man whose light skin allows him to "pass" for white, the novel describes a pilgrimage through America's color lines at the turn of the century--from a black college in Jacksonville to an elite New York nightclub, from the rural South to the white suburbs of the Northeast.
This is a powerful, unsentimental examination of race in America, a hymn to the anguish of forging an identity in a nation obsessed with color. And, as Arna Bontemps pointed out decades ago, "the problems of the artist [as presented here] seem as contemporary as if the book had been written this year."
114 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1912
819 people are currently reading
13.4k people want to read
About the author
James Weldon Johnson
165 books124 followersJames Weldon Johnson was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and collections of folklore. He was also one of the first African-American professors at New York University. Later in life he was a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 814 reviews
June 20, 2016
OK, so maybe this isn't one of the great novels of the 20th century. The canon tells me that other books are, and because of that I'm starting to become less enamored of the canon and of those who insist on pushing it -- because such a focus on the limited offerings of elite taste makers and academics causes gems like this to fall by the wayside.
I do pay attention to the canon and use it as a guide and as a benchmark standard that fits within a larger context. The canon can't be ignored, and part of what makes it interesting is the socio-historical currents that created it. As long as we can keep that all in perspective, it's all good. Like anything that's part of this complete breakfast, it's best to take the canon with a proverbial grain of salt when confronting it -- not dismissively; that's a closed-minded approach -- and to move elsewhere as often as possible; to broaden one's reading horizons and create one's own canon.
And when I say this I don't mean just creating a list of favorite bubblegum reads. Danielle Steel and Stephenie Meyer or the latest author of vampire/werewolf/name-any-nocturnal-supernatural-Casanova books do not belong on any canon. I'm talking about a canon that seeks alternative books that equal in literary or informational merit the ones that get on all the elite lists of the famous or acclaimed. My version of this, which is a work in progress, is a shelf of unjustly neglected or underrated books that I call Evan's Alternative 100.
James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man is one of these bafflingly neglected books that deserves more attention. Although published in 1912, a lot of what it says about the "race question" in the United States is still pertinent and timely. In some ways it seems to me to be a precursor to Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, except that Johnson's light-skinned bi-racial protagonist finds invisibility in a different way, by ultimately choosing to pass for white; to enjoy the freedoms denied him whenever his true lineage is revealed.
I have to admit, for a good while I had no idea that this was a novel. It is so convincing as an "autobiography" that I believed this to be Johnson's own story. Some of it is, from what I glean off the back cover blurb. Whatever the case, it is a book that is immediately engrossing; a remarkably evocative time capsule that whisks and immerses the reader into the world of early 20th-century America.
The first-person narrator of the book would have to be, admittedly, one of the more fortunate black/bi-racial men of his day. He is the spawn of a black mother and a well-to-do white father who, though distant and purposefully anonymous in his parentage due to the stigma of miscegenation, at least follows through on his responsibility of financial and occasional moral support. His musical talents and curiosity are nurtured, and thus he embarks on a life odyssey in which his options are more varied and flexible than would have been the case for his more unfortunate (and blacker and poorer) "colored" brethren.
In his observations, the narrator becomes almost like an anthropologist of his own people -- able to blend in and out of white and black society at will. What he reports in the book was probably news to a lot of white readers of the day, and a lot of it remains fascinating and enlightening even now from a historical and cultural perspective. The book gives the reader a taste of life as it was lived before 1912 in such diverse places as Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida, and Connecticut and New York City and Paris and London. I found the man's various adventures as a ragtime pianist, cigar-roller, linguist, music anthropologist, urban gambler and erstwhile lover to be engaging -- putting me in places and situations I knew little or nothing about.
The book is a vibrant and fulsomely descriptive evocation of black American life in the early 20th century and is at the same time an exuberant celebration of black culture and of the often unremarked contributions to the world of black Americans and their ancestors.
The novel is honest, flavorful and lovingly rendered, and even with all that has come to pass it remains relevant.
I loved nearly every word of it.
-----
(KR@Ky, with some amendments made in 2016)
I do pay attention to the canon and use it as a guide and as a benchmark standard that fits within a larger context. The canon can't be ignored, and part of what makes it interesting is the socio-historical currents that created it. As long as we can keep that all in perspective, it's all good. Like anything that's part of this complete breakfast, it's best to take the canon with a proverbial grain of salt when confronting it -- not dismissively; that's a closed-minded approach -- and to move elsewhere as often as possible; to broaden one's reading horizons and create one's own canon.
And when I say this I don't mean just creating a list of favorite bubblegum reads. Danielle Steel and Stephenie Meyer or the latest author of vampire/werewolf/name-any-nocturnal-supernatural-Casanova books do not belong on any canon. I'm talking about a canon that seeks alternative books that equal in literary or informational merit the ones that get on all the elite lists of the famous or acclaimed. My version of this, which is a work in progress, is a shelf of unjustly neglected or underrated books that I call Evan's Alternative 100.
James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man is one of these bafflingly neglected books that deserves more attention. Although published in 1912, a lot of what it says about the "race question" in the United States is still pertinent and timely. In some ways it seems to me to be a precursor to Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, except that Johnson's light-skinned bi-racial protagonist finds invisibility in a different way, by ultimately choosing to pass for white; to enjoy the freedoms denied him whenever his true lineage is revealed.
I have to admit, for a good while I had no idea that this was a novel. It is so convincing as an "autobiography" that I believed this to be Johnson's own story. Some of it is, from what I glean off the back cover blurb. Whatever the case, it is a book that is immediately engrossing; a remarkably evocative time capsule that whisks and immerses the reader into the world of early 20th-century America.
The first-person narrator of the book would have to be, admittedly, one of the more fortunate black/bi-racial men of his day. He is the spawn of a black mother and a well-to-do white father who, though distant and purposefully anonymous in his parentage due to the stigma of miscegenation, at least follows through on his responsibility of financial and occasional moral support. His musical talents and curiosity are nurtured, and thus he embarks on a life odyssey in which his options are more varied and flexible than would have been the case for his more unfortunate (and blacker and poorer) "colored" brethren.
In his observations, the narrator becomes almost like an anthropologist of his own people -- able to blend in and out of white and black society at will. What he reports in the book was probably news to a lot of white readers of the day, and a lot of it remains fascinating and enlightening even now from a historical and cultural perspective. The book gives the reader a taste of life as it was lived before 1912 in such diverse places as Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida, and Connecticut and New York City and Paris and London. I found the man's various adventures as a ragtime pianist, cigar-roller, linguist, music anthropologist, urban gambler and erstwhile lover to be engaging -- putting me in places and situations I knew little or nothing about.
The book is a vibrant and fulsomely descriptive evocation of black American life in the early 20th century and is at the same time an exuberant celebration of black culture and of the often unremarked contributions to the world of black Americans and their ancestors.
The novel is honest, flavorful and lovingly rendered, and even with all that has come to pass it remains relevant.
I loved nearly every word of it.
-----
(KR@Ky, with some amendments made in 2016)
February 10, 2017
A well written book about the life of a black man, a man who is light enough to pass as white. He takes us through his life, moving from North to South and back again. As a young boy e believed himself to be white until an episode at school will confront him with the truth. His job in a cigar factory, promotion to a reader, something I had never heard of before. Gambling, the Harlem Renaissance, the views held by whites toward blacks and the opposite as well. Views he is well able to describe having lived as both.
My problem with this book is that while I found it interesting, it was missing heart, emotions. The matter of fact prose, reads like a biography, related facts but not the emotions behind them. Details are given, of cigar making, gambling, music, some that went on too long in my opinion but details are not given that would lead me to the emotional center of this man. Ii missed that, it would have pulled this story together for me, I missed that connection in my reading and it kept me from rating this any higher.
My problem with this book is that while I found it interesting, it was missing heart, emotions. The matter of fact prose, reads like a biography, related facts but not the emotions behind them. Details are given, of cigar making, gambling, music, some that went on too long in my opinion but details are not given that would lead me to the emotional center of this man. Ii missed that, it would have pulled this story together for me, I missed that connection in my reading and it kept me from rating this any higher.
February 4, 2013
The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man: James Weldon Johnson's novel of race and identity
"You are young, gifted, and Black. We must begin to tell our young, There's a world waiting for you, Yours is the quest that's just begun.--James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson
Johnson lived an extraordinary life as a writer, musician,educator, lawyer, and diplomat. Born in Jacksonville, Florida,in 1871, the son of teacher Helen Dulett and James Johnson, the head waiter at St. James Hotel, one of the early resort hotels in Jacksonville. Johnson developed his love of music and literature from his mother. His confidence to pursue a professional position was inspired by his father.
Atlanta University
Johnson entered Atlanta University at age 16 and received his degree in 1894. Along with his brother, Rosamond, Johnson wrote numerous songs which were incorporated into Broadway hits of the day. Working with the Theodore Roosevelt campaign, as a Republican, Johnson composed campaign songs for Roosevelt. Upon his election Roosevelt appointed Johnson as American Consul to Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The election of Woodrow Wilson,a Virginia Democrat,ended Johnson's diplomatic career. No longer bound by the requirements of circumspection in the political world, Johnson became a civil rights activist and a founder of the NAACP.
Johnson was killed in a collision with a train at an unmarked crossing, headed for a speaking engagement. His death at the age of sixty seven brought a premature end to an extraordinary life.
Considering the quote from Johnson which serves as a preamble to this review, the subject matter of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man concerns the life of a man from childhood through life with the knowledge that he is Black, but with the ability to pass as a white man. His conflicted opinion on whether to live safely as a white man as opposed to acknowledging his racial identity and acting to advance his own race is the theme that runs throughout Johnson's novel. The title of the book leaves no doubt as to the protagonist's final decision. It is a decision that is riddled with guilt.
The unnamed protagonist tells his story in the first person. He does not reveal the place of his birth as there are still people living there who would readily identify him. He is the product of the illicit union of a wealthy white man and his mother her served as his father's seamstress. As his father's marriage approaches, "Father" purchases tickets for our young boy and his mother for a train trip to Savannah. He has also provided steamship tickets for a one way ticket to New York. The young boy's mother establishes a career for herself as a professional seamstress and "Father" supplements the family income with monthly checks.
Johnson published the novel anonymously in 1912. The identity of the author remained secret until the dawn of the Harlem Renaissance and Weldon was revealed as its author in 1927. Prior to that, upon its initial publication debate over whether the work was in fact an autobiography or a novel was common. Johnson's realistic portrayal of the life of his protagonist undoubtedly led to the continuing debate.
As an elementary student, our young man attends an integrated school in New York. His race is imperceptible. His friends are white. He perceives the difference with which the black students are regarded by his friends and by the teachers, as well. However, a school administrator visits the class room one day, asking all the white scholars to stand. When the protagonist stands, the administrator tells him, "No, not you, sit down." From that moment, our young student's relationships with his white friends cease and he is taunted on the way home that afternoon, hearing for the first time "Nigger," and recognizes that his life in that school has been changed forever.
We follow our growing young man back to the South to attend Atlanta University. However, his funds are stolen from his trunk. His supposed friend, a railway porter, recommends that he go to Jacksonville, where he finds work in a cigar factory, first as a stripper, then a roller, and finally achieves the coveted position of "the reader" who not only keeps the cigar makers entertained with news and other reading material, but over sees and resolves disputes between workers.
A Cigar Reader, turn of the 20th Century
A sudden close of the cigar factory leads our protagonist back to New York. It is the age of Ragtime and our man has the gift of playing it. Whites, slumming on visits to the clubs, are there for the entertainment. A millionaire retains our hero to be his private entertainer, leading to travels through Europe. Yet, our young man is conflicted and yearns to return to America, polishing his skills as a musician. His benefactor explains to him that he could pass for a white man for the rest of his life and need not return to a life of nights in the black clubs of New York. Yet, he returns.
Scott Joplin, Master of Rag-Time
The turning point in the ex-coloured man's decision to pass as a white man is his love of a beautiful young white woman. I leave it to the reader to discover the outcome of that romance and the protagonist's final thoughts on the consequences of being an ex-coloured man.
Johnson's narrative is keen, precise and instantly engaging. He transports the reader from small town Georgia to New York, Jacksonville, London and Paris with ease. His precision in portraying the unnamed protagonist's conflicts between race and identity resonate, at times with the edge of satire, and at others with heartrending pathos.
Truly, Johnson's anonymous work is the dawning of the Harlem Renaissance. Read this book. It's a solid 4.5 star read. Selected writings of James Weldon Johnson are available in a Library of America edition. Get it. For you won't be satisfied to leave Johnson after this one novel.
"You are young, gifted, and Black. We must begin to tell our young, There's a world waiting for you, Yours is the quest that's just begun.--James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson
Johnson lived an extraordinary life as a writer, musician,educator, lawyer, and diplomat. Born in Jacksonville, Florida,in 1871, the son of teacher Helen Dulett and James Johnson, the head waiter at St. James Hotel, one of the early resort hotels in Jacksonville. Johnson developed his love of music and literature from his mother. His confidence to pursue a professional position was inspired by his father.
Atlanta University
Johnson entered Atlanta University at age 16 and received his degree in 1894. Along with his brother, Rosamond, Johnson wrote numerous songs which were incorporated into Broadway hits of the day. Working with the Theodore Roosevelt campaign, as a Republican, Johnson composed campaign songs for Roosevelt. Upon his election Roosevelt appointed Johnson as American Consul to Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The election of Woodrow Wilson,a Virginia Democrat,ended Johnson's diplomatic career. No longer bound by the requirements of circumspection in the political world, Johnson became a civil rights activist and a founder of the NAACP.
Johnson was killed in a collision with a train at an unmarked crossing, headed for a speaking engagement. His death at the age of sixty seven brought a premature end to an extraordinary life.
Considering the quote from Johnson which serves as a preamble to this review, the subject matter of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man concerns the life of a man from childhood through life with the knowledge that he is Black, but with the ability to pass as a white man. His conflicted opinion on whether to live safely as a white man as opposed to acknowledging his racial identity and acting to advance his own race is the theme that runs throughout Johnson's novel. The title of the book leaves no doubt as to the protagonist's final decision. It is a decision that is riddled with guilt.
The unnamed protagonist tells his story in the first person. He does not reveal the place of his birth as there are still people living there who would readily identify him. He is the product of the illicit union of a wealthy white man and his mother her served as his father's seamstress. As his father's marriage approaches, "Father" purchases tickets for our young boy and his mother for a train trip to Savannah. He has also provided steamship tickets for a one way ticket to New York. The young boy's mother establishes a career for herself as a professional seamstress and "Father" supplements the family income with monthly checks.
Johnson published the novel anonymously in 1912. The identity of the author remained secret until the dawn of the Harlem Renaissance and Weldon was revealed as its author in 1927. Prior to that, upon its initial publication debate over whether the work was in fact an autobiography or a novel was common. Johnson's realistic portrayal of the life of his protagonist undoubtedly led to the continuing debate.
As an elementary student, our young man attends an integrated school in New York. His race is imperceptible. His friends are white. He perceives the difference with which the black students are regarded by his friends and by the teachers, as well. However, a school administrator visits the class room one day, asking all the white scholars to stand. When the protagonist stands, the administrator tells him, "No, not you, sit down." From that moment, our young student's relationships with his white friends cease and he is taunted on the way home that afternoon, hearing for the first time "Nigger," and recognizes that his life in that school has been changed forever.
We follow our growing young man back to the South to attend Atlanta University. However, his funds are stolen from his trunk. His supposed friend, a railway porter, recommends that he go to Jacksonville, where he finds work in a cigar factory, first as a stripper, then a roller, and finally achieves the coveted position of "the reader" who not only keeps the cigar makers entertained with news and other reading material, but over sees and resolves disputes between workers.
A Cigar Reader, turn of the 20th Century
A sudden close of the cigar factory leads our protagonist back to New York. It is the age of Ragtime and our man has the gift of playing it. Whites, slumming on visits to the clubs, are there for the entertainment. A millionaire retains our hero to be his private entertainer, leading to travels through Europe. Yet, our young man is conflicted and yearns to return to America, polishing his skills as a musician. His benefactor explains to him that he could pass for a white man for the rest of his life and need not return to a life of nights in the black clubs of New York. Yet, he returns.
Scott Joplin, Master of Rag-Time
The turning point in the ex-coloured man's decision to pass as a white man is his love of a beautiful young white woman. I leave it to the reader to discover the outcome of that romance and the protagonist's final thoughts on the consequences of being an ex-coloured man.
Johnson's narrative is keen, precise and instantly engaging. He transports the reader from small town Georgia to New York, Jacksonville, London and Paris with ease. His precision in portraying the unnamed protagonist's conflicts between race and identity resonate, at times with the edge of satire, and at others with heartrending pathos.
Truly, Johnson's anonymous work is the dawning of the Harlem Renaissance. Read this book. It's a solid 4.5 star read. Selected writings of James Weldon Johnson are available in a Library of America edition. Get it. For you won't be satisfied to leave Johnson after this one novel.
March 11, 2016
Fascinating classic. While reading this book, I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by it. This is a time capsule. A deep look at the world through the eyes of a nameless narrator. The book was written in 1912. This book is a genuine exploration of color through the eyes of a man who seems to be able to successfully transition and adapt almost seamlessly between two worlds (Negro and White). As the narrator moves between worlds he makes observations about Negroes and White people. I think he does a pretty admirable job of characterizing without stereotyping. Amazing how much these observations are still prevalent today some 100 years later.
This is a slice of life story where the narrator kind of stumbles through life. He has lots of adventure and intrigue and frankly some of his experiences are horrifying; however that doesn’t always come through in the writing. It felt like the book had a significant emotional detachment to it. I’m unsure whether that is the author or common to the times the book was written. All of these incidents are encountered with the same emotional energy…which is to say not much energy. For me it was strange.
This same detachment is observed in the narrator’s interactions with humans of all races. I suppose that is a natural progression if the main characteristic of the narrator is his emotional detachment. Frankly, he connects with no one. All of his interactions seem superficial. I’m unsure if this awkwardness in human interaction is meant to be a dimension of the main character or if this is just a characteristic of the time the book was written.
Lastly, the ending did not have the emotional impact it was supposed to in my view. In the end, he was lamenting his loss of privilege and maybe that is why I'm not quite as sympathetic as I expected to be.
This is a book where a lot of things happen one right after the other and yet it didn’t strike me as episodic. It flowed very naturally. Overall, I’m very happy to have read this classic and would recommend highly to everyone. The curiosity and amusement which led to my picking up the book was anthropological in nature but I also ended up just enjoying a very good and interesting story. This really is an outstanding book.
4 Stars and honestly one of the most interesting books I’ve read in quite a while
This is a slice of life story where the narrator kind of stumbles through life. He has lots of adventure and intrigue and frankly some of his experiences are horrifying; however that doesn’t always come through in the writing. It felt like the book had a significant emotional detachment to it. I’m unsure whether that is the author or common to the times the book was written. All of these incidents are encountered with the same emotional energy…which is to say not much energy. For me it was strange.
This same detachment is observed in the narrator’s interactions with humans of all races. I suppose that is a natural progression if the main characteristic of the narrator is his emotional detachment. Frankly, he connects with no one. All of his interactions seem superficial. I’m unsure if this awkwardness in human interaction is meant to be a dimension of the main character or if this is just a characteristic of the time the book was written.
Lastly, the ending did not have the emotional impact it was supposed to in my view. In the end, he was lamenting his loss of privilege and maybe that is why I'm not quite as sympathetic as I expected to be.
This is a book where a lot of things happen one right after the other and yet it didn’t strike me as episodic. It flowed very naturally. Overall, I’m very happy to have read this classic and would recommend highly to everyone. The curiosity and amusement which led to my picking up the book was anthropological in nature but I also ended up just enjoying a very good and interesting story. This really is an outstanding book.
4 Stars and honestly one of the most interesting books I’ve read in quite a while
December 15, 2016
The writing style of the author totally alienated me. Not only did it feel dated but also detached, dry, skimpy and without feeling. I've got a wonderful word to describe it in Swedish - torftig - but nobody will understand me. When the guy telling his story falls in love, what does he say? “I love you. I love you. I love you.” C'mon give me more than that!
I was bored silly, and I shouldn’t have been bored! The central topic, being black but appearing white, has so many possibilities, so much to consider and think about. This should have been interesting. How does it feel to be able to choose? What pulls you one way and what the other? What the author says about "passing" should have drawn my attention, but in this author's hands it didn’t.
One is given details where there is no need for them and no information where one wants more. I wanted more dates, more description of the cities and countries the central character passed through (Jacksonville, Atlanta, NYC, London, Paris, Berlin), more about the figures of his times. Booker T. Washington is covered in one sentence. There is a sentence or two about John Brown and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Conversely one is given street numbers, gambling techniques, words of revival songs that EVERYONE knows. Quite simply information that should have been edited out.
The central character transits too smoothly between completely different life styles. This lacks credibility.
The setting is the turn of the 20th century. The central character is telling his life story. This is fiction, but is based on the author's and acquaintances' real life experiences. The book was first published anonymously in 1912, later published in 1927 in the author’s name.
What is very cleverly done is how the story is told. The man telling his story interjects himself into the telling. He says he cannot state where he was born because others may find out. One has to keep reminding one’s self that this is fiction, that this is not a biography! It feels like a person, a person you don't know, a person on the street, any guy who might just happen to sit down next to you on a park bench sits down and starts telling you his life story. He is not a talented storyteller. He is not an author He is simply a normal person talking. But, and this also gave me trouble, he sure does philosophize. He sure thinks he knows a lot, and he has decided to tell you why he has decided to "pass". He is telling you because he needs to tell someone…..but he isn’t talented at doing it!
The audiobook narration by Andrew Quinn was totally fine. Nothing exceptional, but not hard to follow.
I recommend this book instead: Passing
I was bored silly, and I shouldn’t have been bored! The central topic, being black but appearing white, has so many possibilities, so much to consider and think about. This should have been interesting. How does it feel to be able to choose? What pulls you one way and what the other? What the author says about "passing" should have drawn my attention, but in this author's hands it didn’t.
One is given details where there is no need for them and no information where one wants more. I wanted more dates, more description of the cities and countries the central character passed through (Jacksonville, Atlanta, NYC, London, Paris, Berlin), more about the figures of his times. Booker T. Washington is covered in one sentence. There is a sentence or two about John Brown and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Conversely one is given street numbers, gambling techniques, words of revival songs that EVERYONE knows. Quite simply information that should have been edited out.
The central character transits too smoothly between completely different life styles. This lacks credibility.
The setting is the turn of the 20th century. The central character is telling his life story. This is fiction, but is based on the author's and acquaintances' real life experiences. The book was first published anonymously in 1912, later published in 1927 in the author’s name.
What is very cleverly done is how the story is told. The man telling his story interjects himself into the telling. He says he cannot state where he was born because others may find out. One has to keep reminding one’s self that this is fiction, that this is not a biography! It feels like a person, a person you don't know, a person on the street, any guy who might just happen to sit down next to you on a park bench sits down and starts telling you his life story. He is not a talented storyteller. He is not an author He is simply a normal person talking. But, and this also gave me trouble, he sure does philosophize. He sure thinks he knows a lot, and he has decided to tell you why he has decided to "pass". He is telling you because he needs to tell someone…..but he isn’t talented at doing it!
The audiobook narration by Andrew Quinn was totally fine. Nothing exceptional, but not hard to follow.
I recommend this book instead: Passing
December 15, 2020
James Weldon Johnson wrote two autobiographies, this fictional one of a character referred to only as the Ex-Colored Man, which he published anonymously in 1912, and Along This Way, relating his own remarkable life and career, published only four years before his tragic death in 1938, when the car he was riding in, driven by his wife, was hit by a train.
The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man is his most famous book and it recounts the life of a biracial man born in a small town in Georgia just after the Civil War. He benefits from his black mother's nurturing and guidance, his absent white father's financial support of them both, and his innate intelligence and musical abilities. His discovery at school that he is not white shocks him and casts a shadow over his future. He can "pass" for white, however, and the main theme of the book is his struggle over whether to identify as white or black.
Johnson was born in 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida; unlike the Ex-Colored Man, who planned to attend Atlanta University but never did, he graduated from there in 1894. Among other achievements are his admission to the Florida State Bar in 1897 as the first African-American to do so since Reconstruction, successful Broadway music career with his brother Rosamond, service as U.S. Consul to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela and Corinto, Nicaragua, appointment as first executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and career as professor of literature at Fisk University in Nashville and New York University.
I highly recommend this book and plan to read Johnson's own autobiography, as well. I have to give a shout out to James K. White, whose narration of the free LibriVox audiobook I listened to was outstanding.
The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man is his most famous book and it recounts the life of a biracial man born in a small town in Georgia just after the Civil War. He benefits from his black mother's nurturing and guidance, his absent white father's financial support of them both, and his innate intelligence and musical abilities. His discovery at school that he is not white shocks him and casts a shadow over his future. He can "pass" for white, however, and the main theme of the book is his struggle over whether to identify as white or black.
Johnson was born in 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida; unlike the Ex-Colored Man, who planned to attend Atlanta University but never did, he graduated from there in 1894. Among other achievements are his admission to the Florida State Bar in 1897 as the first African-American to do so since Reconstruction, successful Broadway music career with his brother Rosamond, service as U.S. Consul to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela and Corinto, Nicaragua, appointment as first executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and career as professor of literature at Fisk University in Nashville and New York University.
I highly recommend this book and plan to read Johnson's own autobiography, as well. I have to give a shout out to James K. White, whose narration of the free LibriVox audiobook I listened to was outstanding.
January 30, 2019
What an extraordinary novel! It's difficult to believe such a short work can contain so much. First there is the story itself, which includes among other things a detailed and colorful explanation of the Cakewalk, the story of the rise of Ragtime, the beauty of the music of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a rigorous defense of Gospel singing as culturally significant, an explanation of the inner workings of a cigar factory, a celebration of Uncle Remus stories before they were sullied by Walt Disney, and scenes describing gambling, fetishization of blacks by whites, and what it's like to travel overnight in the laundry closet of a Pullman car...amazing. Interlaced throughout the liveliness of the tale are ruminations about race that feel contemporary. By making his protagonist able to 'pass' for white Johnson creates a character who can move into and out of black or white culture at will. Johnson thus gives the character the perception and insight of an outsider, someone who observes and records without feeling compelled to judge. The ending is wrenching, when the protagonist realizes he has sacrificed his dreams and his ambitions and his talents, by choosing the safety and prosperity of living as a white man: "I have chosen the lesser part, that I have sold my birthright for a mess of pottage."
August 3, 2020
My husband and I read this book together, and we were both so glad we did!
I found it at a book sale. The book was short and the price was low. What did I have to lose?
This story is partly autobiographical. Published in 1912, it tells the account of a fair-skinned black man who can “pass” as white. He comes of age and moves through his young adult years, traveling quite a bit and sharing his fascinating experiences and perspective. He often shares very deep thoughts on the position and progress of black people, not long after the civil war.
Both my husband and I were fascinated by the main character’s experiences and thoughts. And very glad to have each other to discuss it with!
I didn’t know much about ragtime music, but the author made it sound so intriguing that I spent some time on YouTube educating myself! Nice bonus!
I found it at a book sale. The book was short and the price was low. What did I have to lose?
This story is partly autobiographical. Published in 1912, it tells the account of a fair-skinned black man who can “pass” as white. He comes of age and moves through his young adult years, traveling quite a bit and sharing his fascinating experiences and perspective. He often shares very deep thoughts on the position and progress of black people, not long after the civil war.
Both my husband and I were fascinated by the main character’s experiences and thoughts. And very glad to have each other to discuss it with!
I didn’t know much about ragtime music, but the author made it sound so intriguing that I spent some time on YouTube educating myself! Nice bonus!
April 1, 2025
Incredible book great story well written..
I’m so changed by the words in this book
Makes me look at the struggles of the Black man in a different light.. It was then as it is now no matter light or dark a black person is still treated as a black person. That’s a shame that it’s still that way.. Awesome short story would highly recommend
I’m so changed by the words in this book
Makes me look at the struggles of the Black man in a different light.. It was then as it is now no matter light or dark a black person is still treated as a black person. That’s a shame that it’s still that way.. Awesome short story would highly recommend
July 7, 2020
This is a really hard review for me to write there is just so much to say about the book and I have no idea where to start. And if I said all that I wanted to say, this review would end up a term paper instead of a simple review.
Simply stated The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored is about a mulatto man that can pass as white. But the story is much deeper and more complex then just skin colored. Set in the early 1900's Weldon touch on a lot of issues dealing with racial prejudice and cultural identity. It's very interesting to watch the the narrator try to reconcile his racial background (black) with his appearance and upbringing. At one point in the story a "friend" of the narrator makes a comment that narrator was raised as a white man and should live his life as such, that it would be much easier for him to do so. There is a since that the narrator never really fits in anywhere, partially because of the ambiguity of his appearance and also because he really has no family or close ties. He ends up drifting through life with nothing to hold him down to one place or tie him to one group (race, family, friends, etc).
Something that I find interesting about The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is that the issues presented in the book are still relevant today probably even more so, given the fact that the U.S. has a black (mixed) president. It is amazing how after 113 years very little has really changed in the regards to race and culture in the US.
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is not a "light" read when it comes to subject matter. But Weldon was able to pull me in and make me want to flip to the next page. I was surprised by how expertly he dealt with each topic and situation in such a short book. I think part of the reason is because that it is done in memoir form so the reader gets the feeling that they are listening to an old man reflecting on his journey through life and questioning some of the decisions that he made.
Simply stated The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored is about a mulatto man that can pass as white. But the story is much deeper and more complex then just skin colored. Set in the early 1900's Weldon touch on a lot of issues dealing with racial prejudice and cultural identity. It's very interesting to watch the the narrator try to reconcile his racial background (black) with his appearance and upbringing. At one point in the story a "friend" of the narrator makes a comment that narrator was raised as a white man and should live his life as such, that it would be much easier for him to do so. There is a since that the narrator never really fits in anywhere, partially because of the ambiguity of his appearance and also because he really has no family or close ties. He ends up drifting through life with nothing to hold him down to one place or tie him to one group (race, family, friends, etc).
Something that I find interesting about The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is that the issues presented in the book are still relevant today probably even more so, given the fact that the U.S. has a black (mixed) president. It is amazing how after 113 years very little has really changed in the regards to race and culture in the US.
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is not a "light" read when it comes to subject matter. But Weldon was able to pull me in and make me want to flip to the next page. I was surprised by how expertly he dealt with each topic and situation in such a short book. I think part of the reason is because that it is done in memoir form so the reader gets the feeling that they are listening to an old man reflecting on his journey through life and questioning some of the decisions that he made.
February 1, 2024
James Weldon Johnson's Classic Novel of Passing
Many novels of the African-American experience in the United States use the theme of "passing". These novels generally involve a light-complexioned African-American who can "pass" for white. Among other things, novels based on a theme of "passing" allow the character and the author to comment upon black-white relationships in the United States from both sides -- from the black experience and from the white experience.
Both white and black authors have made extensive use of the theme of "passing". The earliest novel involving "passing" of which I am aware is by William Dean Howells in his short 1891 book, "An Imperative Duty" which dealt with an inter-racial marriage. The African-American novelist Nella Larsen wrote a novel titled "Passing" set in the Harlem Renaissance. More recently, Philip Roth's novel "The Human Stain" involves the story of Professor Coleman Silk, a distinguished academic and student of the classics who passes for many years as white.
Coleman Silk is the successor to the protagonist of James Weldon Johnson's only novel, "The Autobiography of an ex-colored Man" written in 1912. The unnamed protagonist of the book is an individual, like Roth's character Coleman Silk, with great intellectual and artistic gifts who is torn between the opportunities open to him as an, apparently, white person and his strong sense of black identity. Like Coleman Silk and the characters in most novels involving the theme of "passing", Johnson's protagonist marries a white woman and lives a life plagued with guilt regarding his abandonment of his heritage as an African-American. Johnson's short novel is, to my mind, the best written on the theme of "passing", and it is a fine novel indeed. The book initially was published anonymously. The writing is so powerful and believable that many readers took the book for a true autobiography until Johnson acknowledged his authorship in 1914. Many years later, Johnson wrote his own autobiography, titled "Along This Way" in part to show that the story of his own life was not the story of the protagonist in the "Autobiography".
Johnson's story shows how his protagonist goes back and forth, both internally and in the outward events of life, about whether to make his way in the white or in the black world. He ultimately finds himself successful but unhappy. In addition to the story line of the book, Johnson uses the "passing" theme to allow many reflective passages by characters in the book on racial relationships in the United States early in the 20th Century. The most famous such scene occurs as the protagonist travels in a "smoking car" for whites on a train in the segregated South. He participates in a discussion among several white men of varied backgrounds on the "race question" as it was viewed at the time. There is also a chilling scene in the book involving a lynching, the burning alive of a black person. Johnson worked fervently in the latter years of his life to secure the passage of anti-lynching legislation in Congress.
But Johnson's novel includes a great deal more than a consideration of race issues. The book offers an outstanding picture of life in early twentieth Century America -- in the South and in Johnson's beloved New York City. The book is filled with pictures of dives and gambling dens and of the trade of cigar making in both South and North. It is filled with the love of the piano and of classical music. Most strikingly, the book has the spirit and feel of ragtime, which reached the height of its popularity during the years in which the book appeared. Johnson shows great appreciation for this product of American culture.
The book also illustrates some universal themes. The protagonist is troubled, specifically, by the conflict between his identity as an African-American and his wish to succeed as a white person. But the broader themes of the book are the consequences of lack of self-knowledge, the role of chance in human life, and the consequences of a certain sense of purposelessness and frustration, which plague many individuals separately from any consideration of race. Johnson develops these themes eloquently and ties them in well with his theme of "passing".
Johnson's novel is an important work of American fiction which deserves to be read.
Robin Friedman
Many novels of the African-American experience in the United States use the theme of "passing". These novels generally involve a light-complexioned African-American who can "pass" for white. Among other things, novels based on a theme of "passing" allow the character and the author to comment upon black-white relationships in the United States from both sides -- from the black experience and from the white experience.
Both white and black authors have made extensive use of the theme of "passing". The earliest novel involving "passing" of which I am aware is by William Dean Howells in his short 1891 book, "An Imperative Duty" which dealt with an inter-racial marriage. The African-American novelist Nella Larsen wrote a novel titled "Passing" set in the Harlem Renaissance. More recently, Philip Roth's novel "The Human Stain" involves the story of Professor Coleman Silk, a distinguished academic and student of the classics who passes for many years as white.
Coleman Silk is the successor to the protagonist of James Weldon Johnson's only novel, "The Autobiography of an ex-colored Man" written in 1912. The unnamed protagonist of the book is an individual, like Roth's character Coleman Silk, with great intellectual and artistic gifts who is torn between the opportunities open to him as an, apparently, white person and his strong sense of black identity. Like Coleman Silk and the characters in most novels involving the theme of "passing", Johnson's protagonist marries a white woman and lives a life plagued with guilt regarding his abandonment of his heritage as an African-American. Johnson's short novel is, to my mind, the best written on the theme of "passing", and it is a fine novel indeed. The book initially was published anonymously. The writing is so powerful and believable that many readers took the book for a true autobiography until Johnson acknowledged his authorship in 1914. Many years later, Johnson wrote his own autobiography, titled "Along This Way" in part to show that the story of his own life was not the story of the protagonist in the "Autobiography".
Johnson's story shows how his protagonist goes back and forth, both internally and in the outward events of life, about whether to make his way in the white or in the black world. He ultimately finds himself successful but unhappy. In addition to the story line of the book, Johnson uses the "passing" theme to allow many reflective passages by characters in the book on racial relationships in the United States early in the 20th Century. The most famous such scene occurs as the protagonist travels in a "smoking car" for whites on a train in the segregated South. He participates in a discussion among several white men of varied backgrounds on the "race question" as it was viewed at the time. There is also a chilling scene in the book involving a lynching, the burning alive of a black person. Johnson worked fervently in the latter years of his life to secure the passage of anti-lynching legislation in Congress.
But Johnson's novel includes a great deal more than a consideration of race issues. The book offers an outstanding picture of life in early twentieth Century America -- in the South and in Johnson's beloved New York City. The book is filled with pictures of dives and gambling dens and of the trade of cigar making in both South and North. It is filled with the love of the piano and of classical music. Most strikingly, the book has the spirit and feel of ragtime, which reached the height of its popularity during the years in which the book appeared. Johnson shows great appreciation for this product of American culture.
The book also illustrates some universal themes. The protagonist is troubled, specifically, by the conflict between his identity as an African-American and his wish to succeed as a white person. But the broader themes of the book are the consequences of lack of self-knowledge, the role of chance in human life, and the consequences of a certain sense of purposelessness and frustration, which plague many individuals separately from any consideration of race. Johnson develops these themes eloquently and ties them in well with his theme of "passing".
Johnson's novel is an important work of American fiction which deserves to be read.
Robin Friedman
February 7, 2017
I recommend reading this fascinating novel.
'The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man' is not a real memoir or non-fiction. It is a fictionalized autobiography written in 1912. Despite that it is fiction, it has a strong feel of true authenticity. What is truly wondrous and sad about the book is how the questions, disputes and agonies over race in 1912 have little changed since this novel was written.
The narrator's story is a coming-of-age one. He experiences unusual adventures because although his mother was a light-skinned black, he himself looks completely white. He describes his birth, education and travels throughout America and Europe. Sometimes he lives like a wealthy white man with wealthy white men, and sometimes he endures the poverty and discrimination of Southern American blacks. He also lived for a time amongst the criminal elements of New York City. His white skin allows him to move freely wherever he chooses, depending on what identity he wants to explore. He is fortunate to be a musical prodigy and he easily learns languages.
The crisis begins when he falls in love with a white woman...
'The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man' is not a real memoir or non-fiction. It is a fictionalized autobiography written in 1912. Despite that it is fiction, it has a strong feel of true authenticity. What is truly wondrous and sad about the book is how the questions, disputes and agonies over race in 1912 have little changed since this novel was written.
The narrator's story is a coming-of-age one. He experiences unusual adventures because although his mother was a light-skinned black, he himself looks completely white. He describes his birth, education and travels throughout America and Europe. Sometimes he lives like a wealthy white man with wealthy white men, and sometimes he endures the poverty and discrimination of Southern American blacks. He also lived for a time amongst the criminal elements of New York City. His white skin allows him to move freely wherever he chooses, depending on what identity he wants to explore. He is fortunate to be a musical prodigy and he easily learns languages.
The crisis begins when he falls in love with a white woman...
December 19, 2014
3.5 stars
A story about an "Ex-Colored Man" who decides to pass as white after witnessing the lynching of a fellow black man. James Weldon Johnson details the unnamed Ex-Colored Man's coming of age, ranging from when he realizes his skin color matters, to when he plays ragtime music for a rich white gentleman, to when he decides to erase his race, a key component of himself. So sad to see how this story remains relevant in 2014 after the tragic deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Would recommend to those interested in music, reading the perspective of a bi-racial narrator, or American classics in general.
A story about an "Ex-Colored Man" who decides to pass as white after witnessing the lynching of a fellow black man. James Weldon Johnson details the unnamed Ex-Colored Man's coming of age, ranging from when he realizes his skin color matters, to when he plays ragtime music for a rich white gentleman, to when he decides to erase his race, a key component of himself. So sad to see how this story remains relevant in 2014 after the tragic deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Would recommend to those interested in music, reading the perspective of a bi-racial narrator, or American classics in general.
Shelved as 'abandoned'
May 17, 20185/10
The writing is gracious, refined, much like the protagonist, but I couldn’t get my mind around whether I liked this character or not.
Abandoned at page 87. Skimmed the rest. The only way that this novel could work for me was if it was written ironically. I can’t be sure that it wasn’t.
The author led a fascinating life but I’m not convinced of his standing as a fascinating writer.
The only thing that rang true was the very last sentence, set here with its telling preamble.
“It is difficult for me to analyze my feelings concerning my present position in the world. Sometimes it seems to me that I have never really been a Negro, that I have been only a privileged spectator of their inner life; at other times I feel that I have been a coward, a deserter, and I am possessed by a strange longing for my mother's people.
Several years ago I attended a great meeting in the interest of Hampton Institute at Carnegie Hall. The Hampton students sang the old songs and awoke memories that left me sad. Among the speakers were R.C. Ogden, ex-Ambassador Choate, and Mark Twain; but the greatest interest of the audience was centered in Booker T. Washington, and not because he so much surpassed the others in eloquence, but because of what he represented with so much earnestness and faith. And it is this that all of that small but gallant band of colored men who are publicly fighting the cause of their race have behind them. Even those who oppose them know that these men have the eternal principles of right on their side, and they will be victors even though they should go down in defeat. Beside them I feel small and selfish. I am an ordinarily successful white man who has made a little money. They are men who are making history and a race. I, too, might have taken part in a work so glorious.
My love for my children makes me glad that I am what I am and keeps me from desiring to be otherwise; and yet, when I sometimes open a little box in which I still keep my fast yellowing manuscripts, the only tangible remnants of a vanished dream, a dead ambition, a sacrificed talent, I cannot repress the thought that, after all, I have chosen the lesser part, that I have sold my birthright for a mess of pottage.”
The writing is gracious, refined, much like the protagonist, but I couldn’t get my mind around whether I liked this character or not.
Abandoned at page 87. Skimmed the rest. The only way that this novel could work for me was if it was written ironically. I can’t be sure that it wasn’t.
The author led a fascinating life but I’m not convinced of his standing as a fascinating writer.
The only thing that rang true was the very last sentence, set here with its telling preamble.
“It is difficult for me to analyze my feelings concerning my present position in the world. Sometimes it seems to me that I have never really been a Negro, that I have been only a privileged spectator of their inner life; at other times I feel that I have been a coward, a deserter, and I am possessed by a strange longing for my mother's people.
Several years ago I attended a great meeting in the interest of Hampton Institute at Carnegie Hall. The Hampton students sang the old songs and awoke memories that left me sad. Among the speakers were R.C. Ogden, ex-Ambassador Choate, and Mark Twain; but the greatest interest of the audience was centered in Booker T. Washington, and not because he so much surpassed the others in eloquence, but because of what he represented with so much earnestness and faith. And it is this that all of that small but gallant band of colored men who are publicly fighting the cause of their race have behind them. Even those who oppose them know that these men have the eternal principles of right on their side, and they will be victors even though they should go down in defeat. Beside them I feel small and selfish. I am an ordinarily successful white man who has made a little money. They are men who are making history and a race. I, too, might have taken part in a work so glorious.
My love for my children makes me glad that I am what I am and keeps me from desiring to be otherwise; and yet, when I sometimes open a little box in which I still keep my fast yellowing manuscripts, the only tangible remnants of a vanished dream, a dead ambition, a sacrificed talent, I cannot repress the thought that, after all, I have chosen the lesser part, that I have sold my birthright for a mess of pottage.”
February 1, 2019
EXQUISITE!!! What a perfect way to kick off the best month of the year; Black History Month!!! When I tell you this wonderful man, writer, WORDSMITH went in and did not return until it was over... my GOD! I loved this book and I’m SO glad I have a copy for my collection of books! I loved how he gave each character time to develop in your mind and heart. I love how his love for each of his characters shone through & he didn’t linger— he even said that with regard to one specific character.
All the while you hope for a shocking twist at the end that never comes but it is also a note to self to be your only one and true self regardless of what is being said or going on.
Fear is also a whole other demon that we all have various ways of dealing with as well.
Finally, it was the moment where he let it be known that the ones that feel as if they are superior have given the least in contributions to this world as a whole. TELL EM JAMES!!! 💚💚💚 I will pass this one on to my nieces nephews and kids for it is a work that speaks volumes w/i volumes!!!
Oh and I learned that Alexandre Dumas, the Great French Writer of two of my favorite pieces of work: The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers was A French BLACK MAN. ✊🏽 aaaaayyyyeeee!!!
All the while you hope for a shocking twist at the end that never comes but it is also a note to self to be your only one and true self regardless of what is being said or going on.
Fear is also a whole other demon that we all have various ways of dealing with as well.
Finally, it was the moment where he let it be known that the ones that feel as if they are superior have given the least in contributions to this world as a whole. TELL EM JAMES!!! 💚💚💚 I will pass this one on to my nieces nephews and kids for it is a work that speaks volumes w/i volumes!!!
Oh and I learned that Alexandre Dumas, the Great French Writer of two of my favorite pieces of work: The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers was A French BLACK MAN. ✊🏽 aaaaayyyyeeee!!!
June 15, 2021
Feels as relevant today as the day it was published. It touches upon so many issues that to this day plague society: racism, colorism, tokenism, activism, appropriation, whitewashing and so much more. As with Nella Larsen's novels, I'm in awe of the fact that works of such honesty and authenticity exist and for the life of me, I can't help but wonder how these have not yet been made part of the American Canon.
September 16, 2011
There are times when I wish Goodreads would hand out a limited number of very special extra six star reads. Rarely does a book deserve more than "It was awesome!". And, here is that rare breed of book - the beyond five-star read.
The awakening of this journey I am on, to discover new and old, the books that ask and contemplate the race question continues. Each new book is another layer, where I think it can't get any better.. and, then it does. I read another piece that touches me more than the last, and I wonder how I could have traversed my life before, having not read these things?
There is so much within the pages of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, that it scares me to think of doing a review that can even remotely give justice to it. I have highlighted passages that I read over and over, because I didn't know someone could say something so profound. Although, to use the word profound, may in itself be cliche. I don't have my book with me, so I will add in the review later some of the special passages.
Some passages that were deeply effecting:
In the life of everyone there is a limited number of unhappy experiences which are not written upon the memory, but stamped there with a die; and in long years after, they can be called up in detail, and every emotion that was stirred by them can be lived through anew; these are the tragedies of life"
"Anyone who without shedding tears can listed to Negroes sing 'Nobody knows de trouble I see, Nobody knows but Jesus' must indeed have a heart of stone"
I think it will be hard to find something worthy of following this book.
The awakening of this journey I am on, to discover new and old, the books that ask and contemplate the race question continues. Each new book is another layer, where I think it can't get any better.. and, then it does. I read another piece that touches me more than the last, and I wonder how I could have traversed my life before, having not read these things?
There is so much within the pages of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, that it scares me to think of doing a review that can even remotely give justice to it. I have highlighted passages that I read over and over, because I didn't know someone could say something so profound. Although, to use the word profound, may in itself be cliche. I don't have my book with me, so I will add in the review later some of the special passages.
Some passages that were deeply effecting:
In the life of everyone there is a limited number of unhappy experiences which are not written upon the memory, but stamped there with a die; and in long years after, they can be called up in detail, and every emotion that was stirred by them can be lived through anew; these are the tragedies of life"
"Anyone who without shedding tears can listed to Negroes sing 'Nobody knows de trouble I see, Nobody knows but Jesus' must indeed have a heart of stone"
I think it will be hard to find something worthy of following this book.
December 2, 2016
Very interesting book, it's such a shame that I probably would not have read this if it weren't for my book group. I haven't read any bi-racial accounts before this, I believe Johnson was born to a black mother and a white father. Because I had also been watching a series about being black in Britain, I found it interesting that a lot of the issues that were spoken about in this book seemed to pop up in the television series proving that very little may have changed throughout time and other countries. I thought this was very well written, despite its short length there seemed to be so much content packed into it.
December 19, 2016
I found this novel (it is fiction despite the title) interesting, but written in rather a matter of fact style.
I read it for a group read on GR, and the group discussion together with following up on the internet regarding the author and background to the book, really enhanced this for me. I now have a much better appreciation of the novel.
I read it for a group read on GR, and the group discussion together with following up on the internet regarding the author and background to the book, really enhanced this for me. I now have a much better appreciation of the novel.
November 17, 2024
PSA: This is a fictional novel; if you want to read Johnson's actual autobiography, track-down Along This Way: The Autobiography of James Weldon Johnson. And now the review.
Nocturne, Op. 48, No. 1 by Frédéric Chopin
James Weldon Johnson was a diplomat, activist and writer who seemed to be equally talented in each field. He was the first African-American lawyer in Florida post-Reconstruction and the first African American to teach at New York University. He was instrumental in the early years of the NAACP and became the first African-American to lead that organization. Johnson also served as a diplomat throughout Latin America and his information of those countries makes it into this novel and into a poetry anthology he edited called The Book of American Negro Poetry.
In regards to my experience with his literature, I encountered his work pretty early in life, given the importance in African-American history of Johnson's most famous poem Lift Every Voice and Sing as well as his re-imaginig of the biblical creation story called...Creation. I'd also read a biography about him from the Black Americans of Achievement series. This novel was first published anonymously while Johnson was still posted at the consulate in Panama, but it was republished 15 years later in his name. I'd known of it for years, but was not really interested as I've never been interested in stories about "passing." As it was, I saw I could borrow it digitally in audiobook form and said, "why not?"
The book is not as relevant today as it was when it came out, but it is still important from a historical perspective. This may have been the first novel to put the sociological findings of Du Bois & The Souls of Black Folk in fictional-form. There is a section where he plainly explains Du Bois' Double Consciousness:
As I absorbed this book as an audiobook, I am ambivalent of the narration. Richard Allen brings in a very spirited performances, but I don't know if it works during the whole story--in particular the inner thoughts of the protagonist.
This was an ok book and good to read from a historical analysis of Afro-American fiction in the early 20th centuries, but Johnson is essentially a poet more than he is a prose writer and this is proof.
Nocturne, Op. 48, No. 1 by Frédéric Chopin
James Weldon Johnson was a diplomat, activist and writer who seemed to be equally talented in each field. He was the first African-American lawyer in Florida post-Reconstruction and the first African American to teach at New York University. He was instrumental in the early years of the NAACP and became the first African-American to lead that organization. Johnson also served as a diplomat throughout Latin America and his information of those countries makes it into this novel and into a poetry anthology he edited called The Book of American Negro Poetry.
In regards to my experience with his literature, I encountered his work pretty early in life, given the importance in African-American history of Johnson's most famous poem Lift Every Voice and Sing as well as his re-imaginig of the biblical creation story called...Creation. I'd also read a biography about him from the Black Americans of Achievement series. This novel was first published anonymously while Johnson was still posted at the consulate in Panama, but it was republished 15 years later in his name. I'd known of it for years, but was not really interested as I've never been interested in stories about "passing." As it was, I saw I could borrow it digitally in audiobook form and said, "why not?"
The book is not as relevant today as it was when it came out, but it is still important from a historical perspective. This may have been the first novel to put the sociological findings of Du Bois & The Souls of Black Folk in fictional-form. There is a section where he plainly explains Du Bois' Double Consciousness:
"It is a difficult thing for a white man to learn what a colored man really thinks; because, generally, with the latter an additional and different light must be brought to bear on what he thinks; and his thoughts are often influenced by considerations so delicate and subtle that it would be impossible for him to confess or explain them to one of the opposite race. This gives to every colored man, in proportion to his intellectuality, a sort of dual personality; there is one phase of him which is disclosed only in the freemasonry of his own race. I have often watched with interest and sometimes with amazement even ignorant colored men under cover of broad grins and minstrel antics maintain this dualism in the presence of white men.Passages like this are peppered throughout the novel, but this is still a book written in 1912 to explain racism to white folks. I find that I liked this book for what it was and for certain quotes--like the one above--that dropped some real knowledge, but its overall narration was definitely of the Edwardian-era. Despite the fact that this is a novel about a black man "passing for" white, most of the novel dealt with his life before he becomes a member of the "white race." Even now I chuckle to myself because I would have liked this novel a lot more 10 years ago, before I read more James Baldwin. This book is trying its best to convince a very racist white society of 1910s America that black people should not be treated like second-class citizens. I agree, but there are now better novels to bring this message.
I believe it to be a fact that the colored people of this country know and understand the white people better than the white people know and understand them."
As I absorbed this book as an audiobook, I am ambivalent of the narration. Richard Allen brings in a very spirited performances, but I don't know if it works during the whole story--in particular the inner thoughts of the protagonist.
This was an ok book and good to read from a historical analysis of Afro-American fiction in the early 20th centuries, but Johnson is essentially a poet more than he is a prose writer and this is proof.
December 19, 2016
I liked it... It was a bit dry, yet it is precise in its telling of the "facts" of this persons life as they unfold before him.
I think it is important to keep in perspective the date it was written, 1912 is when it was first published. The writer was a founder of the NAACP, worked on T.R.'s Presidential campaign, wrote Broadway tunes, Poetry, was American Consul to Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
The "Autobiography" having been written anonymously until Johnson was credited in 1927 and the fact that it was so realistic in its telling caused debate as to weather it was fiction or Non during the 15 years between.
The writer is pinging back and forth over his life about just what to do with himself and where he fits. The guilt he feels over his ultimate decision. I am glad to have read it. I think it an honest telling of things as they were for the subject from the perspective of the writer.
I think it is important to keep in perspective the date it was written, 1912 is when it was first published. The writer was a founder of the NAACP, worked on T.R.'s Presidential campaign, wrote Broadway tunes, Poetry, was American Consul to Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
The "Autobiography" having been written anonymously until Johnson was credited in 1927 and the fact that it was so realistic in its telling caused debate as to weather it was fiction or Non during the 15 years between.
The writer is pinging back and forth over his life about just what to do with himself and where he fits. The guilt he feels over his ultimate decision. I am glad to have read it. I think it an honest telling of things as they were for the subject from the perspective of the writer.
September 9, 2016
From start to finish I was drawn to the storytelling which is not just great, but grand. The merits of ‘Ragtime’ music, and the cake-walk, were revealing. The differences described between London and Paris titillating. And on top of the plethora of ‘race’ discussions between the ex-colored man and aristocrats like himself, I was bowled over by the premise and the decision he faced... and ultimately made... and why!
The story encouraged me to look into books such as ‘Monte Cristo’, ‘The Three Guardsmen’, and ‘Uncle Remus’s Stories’; possibly to add to my reading list. It also had me looking up the ‘Wedding March’ tune, which yes, I had heard it, but now can associate the classic classical calypso with this reading.
I must say it again. What an empowering novel! Highly Recommended!
The story encouraged me to look into books such as ‘Monte Cristo’, ‘The Three Guardsmen’, and ‘Uncle Remus’s Stories’; possibly to add to my reading list. It also had me looking up the ‘Wedding March’ tune, which yes, I had heard it, but now can associate the classic classical calypso with this reading.
I must say it again. What an empowering novel! Highly Recommended!
February 6, 2025
Influential and path-breaking African-American novel from 1912 that lingers a little on the protagonist’s childhood, slouching into a semi-picturesque semi-social tale in the second half—unexciting prose enhanced by timeless racial commentary.
March 5, 2012
I believe every child in the South should read this book as part of Southern history. We learned about the Civil War in school, and about Reconstruction. Depending upon the teacher you got, the middle of the nineteenth century was either required material, a glorious period in Southern history, or a terrible era of U.S. history. In either way, the symbolism of the period always seemed to overshadow its reality. What Johnson does so well is to make his main character real, while still presenting the debates (the color question, as he often puts it) of the time. Johnson's observations about Southerners, white and black, and the South are some of the most insightful observations I have ever read about my region. Several of these passages struck me, but the most presient observations occurred as the narrator rode a train to Georgia, and listened to a debate about race conducted by several men in the smoking car (it is in this passage that the narrator remarked that Southerners simply have to talk, and strangers put in any confined space will not be strangers for long). It is in this passage that Johnson's narrator admires Southerns "for the manner in which he defends not only his virtues, but his vices." I re-read that sentence over and over--how very well it described Southern history! I highly recommend this book to everyone, but I absolutely recommend it to anyone that has lived in the South and struggled to define that elusive entity that is the American South.
February 20, 2009
I loved the parts about his childhood, his mother, and his fascination with Shiny; his realizations about race--his races--are more powerful when he talks about how he understood (or didn't understand) them as a child.
October 22, 2014
Beautifully written but .........I may write a full review sometime.
September 17, 2022
Books can either lift you up or let you down. But there's a unique sort of pain I feel when a venerated classic, one I put off reading for just the right time and mental space, bombs. All anyone needs to know about James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of a Ex-Colored Man is summed up in the third-to-last paragraph of the book:
Sometimes it seems to me that I have never really been a Negro, that I have been only a privileged spectator to their inner life; at other times I feel that I have been a coward, a deserter, and I am possessed by a strange longing for my mother's [Black] people.
Duh! You think? It's like the entire novel was one big shaggy dog story leading up to this revelation.
This novel is over a hundred years old but even by 1912's literary standards I would hazard to guess that Johnson's detached, grandiloquent writing style would have made readers' eyes roll. I'm all for a flowery phrase or a ten-dollar SAT word now and then but, really, not in every single sentence. But let me make one thing abundantly clear: this isn't a novel. To be more precise, the book reads like an ethnography written by an elite scholar who knows nothing about Black people, race relations of the era, or much else. If Johnson had titled this book The Ethnography of an Ex-Colored Man it would have been more accurate.
Throughout all of his sojourns in the North, the South, and Western Europe, the nameless narrator--why do writers do this?--never really takes part in life. Instead, he's a character that allows the world to act upon him, not the other way around, and characters like that infuriate me. This guy is a cipher, a suckup, and a simpleton, so naive that he puts trust in all the wrong people and doesn't even realize that his "benefactor" is using him. I'm fully aware that at this time in American history many Black artists and intellectuals had wealthy White patrons, but this relationship is a head-scratcher for me. Was the narrator supposed to be his man's paid companion, his gay lover, or what? To me, it seemed like a form of slavery that the narrator was too much of a dummy to understand.
The fact that most of the dialogue in the book is indirect, that Johnson doesn't allow most of the Black people in the book to speak for themselves, is troubling. Also troubling is the fact that the characters who do get to speak in direct dialogue, often at length, are the White racists. For a founding member of the NAACP and a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance--the man wrote "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" for crying out loud--this is unconscionable to me. Did his contemporaries call him out for these glaring mistakes? I wonder.
I read a hardcover library copy of this novel that was published in 1960. According to the due date card, the last time and only time this book was checked out was September 2006. I should have left this on the shelf. There are much better books on the topic of passing. Read them instead.
Sometimes it seems to me that I have never really been a Negro, that I have been only a privileged spectator to their inner life; at other times I feel that I have been a coward, a deserter, and I am possessed by a strange longing for my mother's [Black] people.
Duh! You think? It's like the entire novel was one big shaggy dog story leading up to this revelation.
This novel is over a hundred years old but even by 1912's literary standards I would hazard to guess that Johnson's detached, grandiloquent writing style would have made readers' eyes roll. I'm all for a flowery phrase or a ten-dollar SAT word now and then but, really, not in every single sentence. But let me make one thing abundantly clear: this isn't a novel. To be more precise, the book reads like an ethnography written by an elite scholar who knows nothing about Black people, race relations of the era, or much else. If Johnson had titled this book The Ethnography of an Ex-Colored Man it would have been more accurate.
Throughout all of his sojourns in the North, the South, and Western Europe, the nameless narrator--why do writers do this?--never really takes part in life. Instead, he's a character that allows the world to act upon him, not the other way around, and characters like that infuriate me. This guy is a cipher, a suckup, and a simpleton, so naive that he puts trust in all the wrong people and doesn't even realize that his "benefactor" is using him. I'm fully aware that at this time in American history many Black artists and intellectuals had wealthy White patrons, but this relationship is a head-scratcher for me. Was the narrator supposed to be his man's paid companion, his gay lover, or what? To me, it seemed like a form of slavery that the narrator was too much of a dummy to understand.
The fact that most of the dialogue in the book is indirect, that Johnson doesn't allow most of the Black people in the book to speak for themselves, is troubling. Also troubling is the fact that the characters who do get to speak in direct dialogue, often at length, are the White racists. For a founding member of the NAACP and a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance--the man wrote "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" for crying out loud--this is unconscionable to me. Did his contemporaries call him out for these glaring mistakes? I wonder.
I read a hardcover library copy of this novel that was published in 1960. According to the due date card, the last time and only time this book was checked out was September 2006. I should have left this on the shelf. There are much better books on the topic of passing. Read them instead.
February 24, 2025
I very recently read Nella Larsen's body of writing, including Passing, which includes similar topics & themes from the same time period. This book & Passing are fascinating to read in tandem, especially so because of the male vs. female observations. Larsen's book feels more intimate & urgent, while this one is narrated in a more detached manner. Both are excellent & remain relevant today even a century after their initial releases.
June 10, 2018
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.
Some of the most beautiful passages of the book concern ragtime music and the cake walk.
November 4, 2023
James Weldon Johnson is an exceptional historical figure. A novelist, a poet, civil rights activist, he was a critical member of the Harlem Renaissance, and he wrote the lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Black national anthem. I first read The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, what I believe is his only novel, as an undergrad in my American Literature Survey courses and remembered finding it powerful and beautiful.
It's clear from the outset that Johnson isn’t much of a novelist—that is, there is an essayistic quality to this book, which is in part due to the nature of it as an “autobiography.” Doubly so because he first published it anonymously in 1912, which added a further layer of authenticity to tis narrative. The prose is quite plain and direct, and there are many digressions of philosophic musings—either from the narrator himself, or from conversations he’s privy to as he navigates the world “passing” for white.
The narrator often goes into discussions of the “race question,” which was a soft way of saying “how can we overcome a racist society” in the early 1900s. For this, the book is an excellent artifact, capturing moods, attitudes and prevalent public thought on the issues of race as the urbanization of America was pressing people close and closer together.
As the narrator kind of stumbles his way through life, he traverses the U.S. north, south, and even spends plenty of time in Europe as he’s whisked away by a millionaire patron who loves his ragtime piano playing. It’s kind of fascinating how many of these Harlem Renaissance novels go to Europe to really highlight the racist context of American civil life—and sometimes mirror it.
In these travels, the narrator sees a bustling world, full of life despite its difficulties. He learns Spanish from co-workers at a cigar factory in Florida, he learns of ragtime music which inspires him to do the classics in this new, innovative style, the millionaire businessman who adopts him for several years. There are also images of horrific behavior. Once scene, particularly late in the novel, depicts a terrifying reality of existing as a black man in America in the 1900s. We like to think lynching stopped after Emmett Till’s death in the ‘50s, but what are police killings of black people by modern day lynchings?
Does the novel stand up for me some nearly 20 years later after a significant period of growing racial justice and awareness? I think so, but perhaps it is still more affecting for a younger person just learning of the lingering poison left from the nation’s Original Sin of slavery. In that way, it’s the perfect novel for freshman and sophomore college students, maybe even seniors in high school. Is it a 10/10 novel? No. But it is a particularly evocative time capsule of early 20th century America, and it is, at times, a dark mirror reflecting to us our persistent failures to move beyond race.
It's clear from the outset that Johnson isn’t much of a novelist—that is, there is an essayistic quality to this book, which is in part due to the nature of it as an “autobiography.” Doubly so because he first published it anonymously in 1912, which added a further layer of authenticity to tis narrative. The prose is quite plain and direct, and there are many digressions of philosophic musings—either from the narrator himself, or from conversations he’s privy to as he navigates the world “passing” for white.
The narrator often goes into discussions of the “race question,” which was a soft way of saying “how can we overcome a racist society” in the early 1900s. For this, the book is an excellent artifact, capturing moods, attitudes and prevalent public thought on the issues of race as the urbanization of America was pressing people close and closer together.
As the narrator kind of stumbles his way through life, he traverses the U.S. north, south, and even spends plenty of time in Europe as he’s whisked away by a millionaire patron who loves his ragtime piano playing. It’s kind of fascinating how many of these Harlem Renaissance novels go to Europe to really highlight the racist context of American civil life—and sometimes mirror it.
In these travels, the narrator sees a bustling world, full of life despite its difficulties. He learns Spanish from co-workers at a cigar factory in Florida, he learns of ragtime music which inspires him to do the classics in this new, innovative style, the millionaire businessman who adopts him for several years. There are also images of horrific behavior. Once scene, particularly late in the novel, depicts a terrifying reality of existing as a black man in America in the 1900s. We like to think lynching stopped after Emmett Till’s death in the ‘50s, but what are police killings of black people by modern day lynchings?
Does the novel stand up for me some nearly 20 years later after a significant period of growing racial justice and awareness? I think so, but perhaps it is still more affecting for a younger person just learning of the lingering poison left from the nation’s Original Sin of slavery. In that way, it’s the perfect novel for freshman and sophomore college students, maybe even seniors in high school. Is it a 10/10 novel? No. But it is a particularly evocative time capsule of early 20th century America, and it is, at times, a dark mirror reflecting to us our persistent failures to move beyond race.
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