Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man

What does it mean to be black and male in 20th-century America? The notion of the unitary "black man" is as illusory as the creature conjured up by Wallace Stevens in his poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", says Gates. With these eight essays--most of which appeared originally in "The New Yorker"--the chair of Harvard's Afro-American Studies department takes a close look at some of the most extraordinary figures of our time.