WILLIE E. ABRAHAM
William Melvin Kelley's novel, dem, almost falls within the tradition of the black "raceless" novel of America, in which explicit judgment is avoided on issues concerning race…. It can hardly have come without strain to Kelley to stifle the voice of protest in himself and unite in a neutral and suave spirit, without accent of race. As can be expected, dem does not altogether succeed in maintaining the required degree of composure, even though Kelley believes that it is a chief part of the calling of a literary writer to avoid any appearance...
Source: Contemporary Literary Criticism, ©1982 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 566 words.)
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