Ralph Ellison's first novel, a compelling and passionate work that won the prestigious National Book Award, tells the extraordinary story of a man who is "invisible simply because people refuse to see me." Published in 1952, at a time when American society was on the verge of enormous change, the powerfully written adventures of Ellison's invisible man—from his expulsion from a Southern college to a terrifying race riot in Harlem—go far beyond the story of just one individual. As John Callahan puts it, "With an extraordinary imagination, he found the one word that encompasses the diverse yet shared conditions of African Americans, Americans, and, indeed, the human individual in the 20th century and beyond." This edition includes Ralph Ellison's 30th-anniversary introduction to Invisible Man , a fascinating account of the novel's seven-year genesis.