Flying Home

Ralph Ellison, Flying Home and Other Stories (New York: Vintage Books, 1997 edition.)


Ellison - Flying Home
One thing is certain. I will never catch up with my reading. At the same time as I feel that I can’t keep up with new authors and new books, I keep discovering that there were some major holes in my previous reading. I had known Ralph Ellison for one novel only, The Invisible Man. Probably more important in terms of his literary legacy are the many stories that he wrote. This small volume contains both stories that made the pages of popular magazines and previously unpublished stories. It gives an insight into an author with more depth and breadth than I had previously understood.

There is more to Ralph Ellison than race, though he is unashamed and courageous in tackling race and racism in America. The stories tell of a side of American culture that I know only through reading and they pack a punch that one does not soon forget.

This is a dynamic collection of stories that are well worth reading even if one is not on a quest to learn more about Ralph Ellison.