5 h 50 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 50 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the world changes who you are with a single moment at school?
In James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, an unnamed boy grows up believing he is white. His mother is Black; his distant father is white. When school changes his understanding of himself, he begins a search for where he belongs—and how to live with the identity others give him.
Music carries the gifted pianist through the South, New York clubs, and Europe with a wealthy patron. His school friend Shiny offers an example of scholarship and pride. Along the way, churches, cigar factories, gambling halls, and drawing rooms reveal a world where race shapes opportunity, belonging, and the choice of how to present oneself.
What you’ll discover
- A childhood seen differently Follow a boy whose familiar world changes when he learns how others see his color.
- Music as a calling Share a pianist’s ambition to turn Black communities’ songs and sermons into serious concert music.
- Lives beyond the drawing room Move among factory workers, club patrons, and churchgoers through one observant traveler’s eyes.
- A voice worth questioning Listen closely to a narrator whose charm and intelligence do not always make him trustworthy.
- The hidden cost of passing Consider what belonging means when appearance and the identity others assign do not agree.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy a confessional voice, stories of music and the road, and honest thinking about race, identity and the choices that shape a life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A boy in Georgia and Connecticut
- One school day divides his life
- Music and books shelter an only child
- Atlanta, a theft and the porter's closet
- Jacksonville teaches him the shape of Black life
- New York offers dice, music and ragtime
- A millionaire patron and a sudden flight
- Berlin renews an old ambition
- Voices on race from ship, city and train
- Spirituals, a big meeting and a night that changes him
Who’s who
- The narratorA gifted pianist who does not give his name, he grows up learning what race means in America and looks for a place where he can belong.
- His motherA quiet Connecticut seamstress who teaches him music and loves his absent father, she shields her son from a truth she cannot soften.
- His fatherA tall, well-dressed Southern gentleman who provides money and a piano, yet keeps his distance from the boy he fathered.
- ShinyThe narrator's dark-skinned schoolmate, a brilliant scholar and speaker who wants to lift his race through education.
- Red HeadA big, freckled, loyal classmate who relies on the narrator's cleverness and never lets color affect their friendship.
- The millionaireA weary rich white man who hires the narrator to play ragtime and takes him to Europe, seeking novelty to escape time.
- The doctorA large, hopeful Black physician from Washington who befriends the narrator on a ship and shows him the best of Black society.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
L’Autobiographie d’un homme autrefois noir
by James Weldon Johnson · 1912
A gifted boy with a secret sits down at school, then crosses Atlanta, New York, Paris and Berlin looking for who he is.
Challenging5–10 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
A boy stands up with the white pupils in his Connecticut classroom, and the teacher tells him to sit down. In that one moment he learns something about himself that nobody had said aloud.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A boy in Georgia and Connecticut
The narrator opens by comparing himself to a criminal who cannot help confessing. He promises to tell what weighs on him in the last paragraph.
He is born in a small Georgia town a few years after the Civil War. He remembers a tall man with shiny boots and a gold watch who visits his mother in the evenings. On the last visit, the man drills a hole through a ten-dollar gold piece and ties it around the boy's neck. Then the boy and his mother take a train and settle in Connecticut, where she sews for the town ladies.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1912
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 3 h 45 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Johnson, James Weldon. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-autobiography-of-an-ex-colored-man.
Johnson, J. W. (2026). The autobiography of an ex-colored man. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-autobiography-of-an-ex-colored-man (Original work published 1912)
Johnson, James Weldon. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-autobiography-of-an-ex-colored-man.
@book{johnson2026autobiography,
author = {Johnson, James Weldon},
title = {The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-autobiography-of-an-ex-colored-man},
note = {First published 1912}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about L’Autobiographie d’un homme autrefois noir
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man about?
It follows a gifted musician who grows up in Connecticut, learns about his racial background at school, and moves between the South, New York and Europe. The novel shows how music, class and color shape his choices.
Is The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man a true story?
No, it is a novel, though it was first published in 1912 without an author's name and read as a real confession. Johnson drew on places and people he knew.
Who is the narrator of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man?
The narrator never gives his name. He is a musician with a white father and a Black mother who tells his own story in the first person, often with irony and careful observation.
The author
James Weldon Johnson
1871–1938 · American writer and civil-rights activist
James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist born in Jacksonville, Florida. He wrote The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, published in 1912, and poetry, including God’s Trombones (1927). He lived in New York and served as a diplomat in Latin America. He died in Maine.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
