Major, Clarence (Vol. 19) - Introduction

Major, Clarence 1936–

Major is a black American novelist, poet, critic, editor, and essayist who is considered somewhat out of the mainstream of contemporary black literature for his nonmilitant views. He believes that "people who want to write sociology should not write a novel." But Major does not neglect blacks in his fiction. The hero of his latest novel, No, has been compared to Richard Wright's Bigger Thomas for his conviction that acts of violence liberate one from oppression. (See also CLC, Vol. 3, and Contemporary Authors, Vols. 21-24, rev. ed.)