Summary: Publisher Summary 1 Chronicles the early life of the author, intellectual, and social critic from his birth in Oklahoma in 1913 to receiving the National Book Award in 1953.   Publisher Summary 2 AUTHOR. INTELLECTUAL. SOCIAL CRITIC. ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WRITERS OF ALL TIME. RALPH ELLISON Praise for Ralph Ellison Emergence of Geniu "Dr. Lawrence Jackson?s remarkable biography of Ralph Ellison is an essential contribution to the scholarship on one of the twentieth century?s greatest writers. Painstakingly researched and exhaustive, this compelling portrait of Ellison clarifies his genius??and his intellectual era??for a new century."??Charles Johnson, National Book Award Winner and author of Middle Passag "Lawrence Jackson?s absorbing biography of Ralph Ellison makes a vital contribution to American literary history."??Ross Posnock, English Department, New York University, Author of Color and Culture: Black Writers and the Making of the Modern Intellectua "Professor Lawrence Jackson?s painstaking documentation of Ralph Ellison?s early life and the beginning of his literary career provides a much needed resource for Ellison?s readers and critics."??Horace Porter, author of Jazz Country: Ralph Ellison in America and Director of African Studies at the University of Iow "An eloquently written and exquisitely researched biography. There is nothing quite like it. Jackson breathes life into those hidden nooks and crannies of Ellison?s youth that would later become cannon fodder for the grown Ellison?s explorations. An utterly groundbreaking biography, the idea of Ralph Ellison will never be the same."??Jerry Watts, author of Heroism and the Black Intellectual: Ralph Ellison, Politics, and Afro-American Intellectual Life