Join the editors and writers of T Magazine as we read works of classic American literature.
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‘Invisible Man’
By Ralph Ellison
For the fifth installment of T Book Club, we’re reading “Invisible Man,” Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel in which an unnamed narrator, a Black American who grew up in the South and is now residing in an underground hideout in 1940s New York City, tells the story of his life. Time and again, he has been forced to live according to cruel and impossible terms as determined by white society and, as a result, has seen his hopes dashed and his humanity dismissed — “I am,” he proclaims, “invisible because people refuse to see me” — even as he moves toward a greater understanding of self.
Check this page in the weeks ahead to find additional reading material about the book, and click below to R.S.V.P. to a virtual conversation about “Invisible Man,” to be led by the writer, scholar and T writer at large Adam Bradley and held on June 17.
B
k Club
For the fourth installment of T Book Club, we’re reading “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Patricia Highsmith’s classic 1955 novel about a young American grifter in Italy. Tom Ripley arrives in the fictional town of Mongibello with the assigned task of convincing Dickie Greenleaf, the son of a shipping magnate, to return to the States. Instead, Tom — seduced by the ease with which charming, wealthy Dickie is able to move through life — becomes his constant companion. But Tom’s fondness for and envy of his new friend grow to the point of obsession, and he soon raises the stakes of the confidence game he’s been playing all along.
In ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley,’ a Shape-Shifting Protagonist Who’s Up to No Good
Patricia Highsmith published the first novel in her series of psychological thrillers in 1955, embedding her own repression, snobbery and sense of chaos into the text.
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‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’
By Patricia Highsmith
