The definitive biography of an important American cultural intellectual of the twentieth century--Ralph Ellison, author of the masterpiece Invisible Man. In 1953, Ellison's explosive story of a young black man's search for truth and identity catapulted him to national prominence. Ellison earned many honors, but his failure to publish a second novel, despite years of striving, haunted him for the rest of his life. Rampersad, the first scholar given complete access to Ellison's papers, provides a complex portrait of an unusual artist and human being. This biography describes a man of magnetic personality who counted Saul Bellow, Langston Hughes, Robert Penn Warren, Richard Wright, Richard Wilbur, Albert Murray, and John Cheever among his closest friends; a man whose life and art were shaped mainly by his unyielding desire to produce magnificent art and by his resilient faith in the moral and cultural strength of America.--From publisher description.

1.In the territory -- 2. Leaving the territory -- 3. In a land most strange -- 4. A shock of transition -- 5. The recognition of necessity -- 6. The numbed and the seething -- 7. A mighty book, a mighty theme -- 8. The agon of writing -- 9. In the home stretch -- 10. Finish line -- 11. Annus mirabilis -- 12. Second act -- 13. Adventure in Rome -- 14. The pleasures of home -- 15. Hanging fire -- 16. Tell it like it is, baby -- 17. A "lone-star" Negro -- 18. Professor in the humanities -- 19. The monkey on his back -- 20. The uncanny penetration of the past -- 21. Flying home -- Books by Ralph Ellison -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index.