It is one of the paradoxes of American literature that our writers are forever looking back with love and nostalgia at lives they couldn't wait to leave.

wrote: "In his terms he did not want to write about black love black passion black suffering black joy; he wanted to write about love and passion and suffering and joy. On the other hand Margaret Harrell has written that Anatole Broyard and other acquaintances were casually told that he was a writer and black before meeting him and not in the sense of having to keep it secret. Because of his artistic ambition in some circumstances he never acknowledged that he was part black.

In addition to his many reviews and columns he publiAnatole Broyardd short stories essays and two books during his lifetime. A Louisiana Creole of mixed race he was criticized by some blacks for "passing" as white as an adult and failing to acknowledge his African-American ancestry.