Invisible Man

Invisible Man, published in 1952 by Random House, is the only novel Ralph Ellison published during his lifetime. The novel won the 1953 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction, making Ellison the first Black author to receive that honor. Opening with 'I am an invisible man,' the book explores race, individual identity, and institutional hypocrisy in mid-20th-century America. Ralph Ellison (1913-1994) drew on African American folklore, jazz improvisation, and modernist literary technique to craft his 1952 debut novel. Random House published the hardcover first edition in 1952 with a dust jacket designed by Edward McKnight Kauffer. Ellison's second novel, Juneteenth, remained unfinished at his death and was only released posthumously in shortened form in 1999.