I can’t understand why this ambitious and complex novel about racism in the United States isn’t better known, as it’s a brilliant roman a clef which incorporates so many themes which are just as pertinent today as they were in 1967 when it was first published. It seems to have been overshadowed by better known novels by James Baldwin, Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, but in my opinion it as certainly as good as those, if, indeed, it doesn’t surpass them. It’s a heartfelt and passionate cry against racism, and an introspective portrait of a Black man searching for identity and meaning in his life in a society that discriminates against him in so many ways. Max Reddick is a writer, journalist and activist dying of cancer, who reflects back on his life as it comes to an end. Through his retrospective narrative the novel offers the reader a sweeping panorama of the Black experience in 20th century America and chronicles the tension within the Black community itself. The book weaves real-life figures, such as JFK, Malcolm X and Jams Baldwin, with fictional ones in a non-linear narrative that jumps about in time and place. The reader needs to concentrate, and benefits from doing some background research. Part of the reading pleasure is trying to match up the fictional characters with their real-life equivalents. Reddick himself is possibly based on Richard Wright. He’s a flawed but compelling character and I soon became invested in his plight. The toll the racial struggle takes on all the characters is sympathetically portrayed and feels very real. As Reddick’s physical condition deteriorates, it seems to reflect the deterioration in the success of the civil rights movement as a whole. Broad in scope, touching on racism, segregation, conspiracy theory, post-colonial history with a dash of the thriller in the mix, it’s a multi-layered and thought-provoking book which I very much enjoyed. An angry book and sadly still a very relevant one.

Sadly my first Fitzcarraldo dnf, didn't want to read about a dying man reflecting on how they had so many affairs.