The title Shadow and Act is drawn from a movie review Ellison wrote in 1948 for Magazine of the Year entitled ‘‘The Shadow and the Act.’’ The title makes reference to the disparity between screen images of African Americans, in effect mere shadows of real people designed to suit the ideas of the mainstream, and the reality of African-American life. The collection as a whole is aimed at representing the same disparity on a broader level; drawing on American folklore, ritual, literature, and music, Ellison illustrates the complicated relationship between American culture as a whole and what he calls the Negro-American subculture. In the course of essays, reviews, and interviews written over twenty-two years, Ellison demonstrates his evolution as a writer and a thinker, makes observations about American culture as a whole, and in particular, represents autobiographically his experience of being black in America.

Section One: ‘‘The Seer and the Seen’’
The first section of Shadow and Act is comprised of ten pieces mainly concerning fiction and folklore. In the interviews, ‘‘That Same Pain, That Same Pleasure’’ and ‘‘The Art of Fiction,’’ as well as in the speech, ‘‘Brave Words for a Startling Occasion,’’ Ellison discusses his influences and evolution as a writer, culminating in his novel Invisible Man. ‘‘Twentieth-Century Fiction and the Black Mask of Humanity’’ and ‘‘Beating That Boy’’ concern ways that modern fiction writers struggle with how to represent African Americans in fiction. Ellison discusses the ways black Americans, by definition, challenge American cultural assumptions, and the responsibility of black and white writers alike in representing them. ‘‘Hidden Name and Complex Fate’’ is a discussion of the power of names, and of the act of naming, which is by definition the work of the novelist. ‘‘Stephen Crane and the Mainstream of American Fiction’’ is Ellison’s introduction to the 1960 release of The Red Badge of Courage, in which he lauds the author’s skills, focused mainly on his use of moral imperative in his fiction. ‘‘Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke’’ is a response to Stanley Edgar Hyman’s assertions about the function of the ‘‘darky entertainer’’ in American culture. In his response, Ellison outlines his thesis that the comical image of the minstrel serves to invert white America’s guilt over slavery into laughter, and thus absolve the culture through identification. ‘‘Richard Wright’s Blues’’ is Ellison’s contention that the autobiographical Black Boy fits the definition of the blues, in the sense that the blues amount to the lyrical expression of individual pain and tragedy. ‘‘The Word and the Jug,’’ by contrast, is a response to critic Irving Howe’s assertion that Wright is a better and more culturally responsible writer than Ellison and James Baldwin. In the essay, Ellison discusses the ways that Wright’s writing falls short of major modern fiction because of its adherence to ideology, and he contends that social critics fall prey to the tendency to view minorities as isolated entities, rather than as part of the larger American culture.

Section Two: ‘‘Sound and the Mainstream’’
Part 2 of Shadow and Act is concerned with music, particularly jazz and blues, as expressions of African-American culture. ‘‘Living With Music’’ is Ellison’s account of the music in his neighborhood and how, although it can be cause for writer’s block, it is integral to his life. ‘‘The Golden Age, Time Past’’ is a nostalgic look at Minton’s Playhouse, the site of the evolution of jazz culture in New York. In ‘‘As the Spirit Moves Mahalia,’’ Ellison praises and chronicles the rise of Mahalia Jackson, a gospel singer who, despite her mastery of jazz and blues, maintains the...