Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to suicide and anti-Black biases.

Thelonious “Monk” Ellison introduces himself as a fiction writer and says that this is his journal. He is terrified by the thought that people will read his story, so he surrenders the title of the “author.” He instead refers to himself using other characterizations, calling himself “a son, a brother, a fisherman, an art lover, a woodworker” (1). He describes his appearance—his “dark brown skin, curly hair [and] broad nose” (1)—and then talks about his enslaved ancestors and his encounters with white police officers, saying that, by societal standards, his race is Black. He is a Harvard graduate and likes music; his grandfather and father were doctors, and his siblings, Lisa and Bill, are doctors, too. Several editors and reviewers characterize Monk’s novels as not being Black enough. Monk does not believe in race.

Monk goes to Washington, DC to present a paper at a conference organized by the Nouveau Roman Society. While he is there, he plans to visit his mother and his sister, Lisa. His relationship with Lisa is strained. His brother, Bill, lives in Arizona and is married with children.