Constantly Moving the Bookmark

"I am an invisible man," states the forever nameless narrator. "When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination--indeed, everything and anything except me." So starts the story. Expelled from a southern Negro college for nothing he did wrong our young nameless guide goes to New York to find his fortune. Sadly he learns that things and people are not often what they seem and even the best intentioned folks will use you to meet their ends and then stab you in the back.

Through vignettes shared from the narrators life the reader gets a taste of what life was like for a black man living in a time of social and racial upheaval. Some are humorous, some are heart wrenching and some are truly disturbing. So disturbing that our narrator finds it preferable to live as a recluse in a basement than to encounter society.

In discussing this book with another avid reader we discovered that is speaks to different people in different ways, which is always the sign of a truly good book well worth reading. We never did agree on what the ending meant! This is a beautifully written book well deserving of the accolades and awards it received when first published. And, unfortunately despite the fact that it was published 60 years ago many of the issues are still unresolved.