Ralph Ellison is mainly known for his novel Invisible Man. This volume brings together 13 early short stories of which six had remained unpublished when the author died in 1994. Some of these stories are a bit difficult to read because of the use of African American slang and typical use of English. The stories are well worth reading for readers interested in fiction by African American authors. Many stories were written in the late 1930s and 1940s, a period which literary output is not often read. The volume comes with a 35-page comprehensive introduction to Ellison and these early stories. Particularly the first story, about racial violence in the U.S. is unforgettable. ( )