From the Briarpatch File On Context, Procedure, and American Identity

The renowned novelist, essayist, poet, and literary and social critic presents a collection of scholarly and provocative essays, reviews, and interviews that examine contemporary America, including his own beginnings as a writer, the accomplishments of Duke Ellington and William Faulkner, the responsibilites of the black educated elite, and the near-tragic, near-comic aura of the blues.