A journey into the racist underbelly of the beast... Curious if you have strong gag reflex. ( )

Recommend - not for literary excellence, but for seeing racism from a historical perspective. I think we forget just how truly vile (in this book, black) racism is, and tend to only see it as a dislike... "he's a racist" seems to mean nowadays that "he doesn't like XXX" and, while we think negatively of racism, the deeply reprehensible actions and opinions that go along with racism are overlooked. This book is good in that it shows the language of racism and it's difficult to read such language. Whereas nowadays the n-word or a monkey-caricature is all that is needed to incite digust, in this book the n-word is a common word and the real vileness that is racism comes out in flaming form. Definitely worth the read. ( )

271. The Clansman An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, by Thomas Dixon (read 25 Jul 1946) I started to read this book on July 22, 1946, and on that day said: "I despise the book and its thesis." On July 23 I said: "Reading in that maddening Clansman. Author deserved shooting." ( )

Notorious book glorifying the KKK, basis of Griffith's film Birth of a Nation; this copy belonged to my grandfather who was the son of a Confederate veteran in NC. ( )