In this book, Barbara Foley presents a penetrating analysis of the creation of "Invisible Man". In the process she sheds new light not only on Ralph Ellison's novel but also on his early radicalism and the relationship between African American writers and the left during the early years of the cold war. Foley suggests that by expunging a leftist vision from "Invisible Man", Ellison rendered his novel not only less radical but also less humane than it might otherwise have been.--[book cover].