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  <id>349929</id>
  <title><![CDATA[Passing (Penguin Classics)]]></title>
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  <description><![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]></description>
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  <original_publication_year type="integer">1969</original_publication_year>
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        <name><![CDATA[Nella Larsen]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
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  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1081</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
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  <read_at>Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jan 14 21:39:56 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jan 15 18:38:51 -0800 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[I must admit that Nella Larson completes a fantastic feat in only 114 pages. <br/><br/>This book makes you think: about race, race relations, and one's own anxieties about &quot;the other&quot;. It makes you question your own sense of self, what it means to be, to identify with something, anything...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/43091447">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/43091447]]></url>
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      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Steven]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
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  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
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    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
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    <rating>3</rating>
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  <read_at>Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jul 23 10:33:25 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jul 23 10:35:16 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book isn't all that much fun to read, but it asks a lot of questions. It is about a black woman that passes as a white person, even her husband doesn't know. She has to live a life of fear and lies. <br/>How many of us &quot;pass&quot; and live a different life than who we really are? What do ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3411576">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3411576]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>48488836</id>
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    <id>722135</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Dan]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Philadelphia, PA]]></location>
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    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
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  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
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    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Mar 07 00:47:05 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Mar 07 01:01:44 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[this short, deceptively simple novel is full of great ideas. the story concerns a conflicted friendship between two light-skinned african-american women, one of whom &quot;passes&quot; for white. the novel was written in the 1920's, and provides an interesting look at black cosmopolitan life during ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/48488836">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/48488836]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>42458846</id>
    <user>
    <id>1887353</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Erendira]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Chicago, IL]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
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  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Jan 09 08:52:01 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Jan 09 11:06:11 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Really enjoyed reading this book!!  It was recommended to me from a high school student in my old youth program.  It was written during the Harlem Renaissance and written like a play in 3 acts.  The two main characters are African American women.  One &quot;passes&quot; as a White woman when it's co...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42458846">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42458846]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42458846]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>7215217</id>
    <user>
    <id>107587</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Elizabeth]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Houston, TX]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/107587-elizabeth]]></link>
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    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
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  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Oct 03 13:19:50 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jan 15 13:21:59 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Nella Larsen’s remarkable second novel, first published in 1929 during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, is about the fraught relationship between two very different women who engage in very different kinds of passing. Irene and Clare were friends when they were growing up on Chicago’s south...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7215217">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7215217]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7215217]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>14553658</id>
    <user>
    <id>874422</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jocelyn]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/874422-jocelyn]]></link>
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    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
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  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
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    <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at>Fri Jan 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Feb 04 14:37:54 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Feb 04 14:37:54 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Big stories sometimes come in small packages.  Nella Larsen’s 1929 novella <em>Passing</em> packs a punch that’s even felt in today’s society.  The story centers around the mixed blessing of being a “black” who is able to “pass” as white.  Two women, old acquaintances, rekindle their friendship...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14553658">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14553658]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14553658]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>61735265</id>
    <user>
    <id>2268970</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Carolyn]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[London, K2, The United Kingdom]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2268970-carolyn]]></link>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
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  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889s/349929.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jul 01 03:46:50 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jul 01 04:01:16 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Excerpt from a reflection for a course entitled &quot;Queer Narratives/Queer Sexualities&quot;:<br/><br/>&quot;I think it beautifully illustrates the idea that identity is not and can never be one thing for individuals in a group, despite the fact that they may place themselves underneath one part...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61735265">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61735265]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61735265]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Jenny]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
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  <id type="integer">349929</id>
  <isbn>0142437271</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142437278</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889s/349929.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jul 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jul 19 14:51:52 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jul 22 08:42:23 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I wouldn't call this book a great, enormous masterpiece but I really enjoyed it. It's about Irene and Clare, two black women living during the 20s around Harlem. Both have fair skin and can pass as white. Irene is married to a black man and they have two children and she is part of the black bourgeo...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64128974">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64128974]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64128974]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>54053272</id>
    <user>
    <id>86946</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jessica]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Philadelphia, PA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/86946-jessica]]></link>
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  <isbn>0142437271</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142437278</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889s/349929.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Apr 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Apr 26 16:11:00 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Apr 26 16:24:06 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book started out strong, but I found the ending so boring that it dropped from a five-star book to a three-star one.<br/><br/>In <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1885.Pride_and_Prejudice" title="Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen">Passing</a>, two women meet on the rooftop of a hotel in 1920s Chicago, recognize each other, and begin a conversation. Both are black women &quot;passing&quot; as whit...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54053272">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54053272]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54053272]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>39587518</id>
    <user>
    <id>850644</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jane]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/850644-jane]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">349929</id>
  <isbn>0142437271</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142437278</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889s/349929.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jan 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Dec 08 07:08:40 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jan 06 09:20:31 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[A spare, psychological portrait of race, class, and gender, set and written in the 1920's. As the author herself, the book redefines assumptions about the African-American experience and transcends the politically correct. Riveting.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39587518]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39587518]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>64561969</id>
    <user>
    <id>85724</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Ciana]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Chicago, IL]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/85724-ciana]]></link>
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  <isbn>0142437271</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142437278</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889s/349929.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jul 22 14:20:44 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jul 22 14:32:09 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[After reading this book for the third time I finally have developed my opinion about the open plot. Critics have constantly said that this ambigous novel leaves the reader the opportunity to create their own meaning of the text. I personally think this text is discussing the inner struggles of what ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64561969">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64561969]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64561969]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>52494385</id>
    <user>
    <id>729074</id>
    <name><![CDATA[James]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Oakland, CA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/729074-james]]></link>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
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  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889s/349929.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Apr 13 08:43:15 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Apr 13 08:49:04 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This small but powerful volume is sort of an anti-&quot;race novel&quot;.  I cannot imagine why Larsen's work is so often ignored when people discuss the Harlem Renaissance, except that her opposition to racial delineation of *all* kinds -- including that which is meant to encourage solidarity among...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52494385">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52494385]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52494385]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>44580500</id>
    <user>
    <id>426277</id>
    <name><![CDATA[James]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Chicago, IL]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/426277-james]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">349929</id>
  <isbn>0142437271</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142437278</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889s/349929.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jan 27 18:27:52 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Feb 21 17:05:50 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[In 1929, Nella Larsen published Passing, her second novel. It is the story of two childhood friends, Clare and Irene. They lost touch when Clare's father died and she moved in with two white aunts. By hiding that Clare was part-black, she was able to 'pass' as a white woman and married a white racis...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44580500">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44580500]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44580500]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>39883621</id>
    <user>
    <id>1230913</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jodie]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Denver, CO]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1230913-jodie]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1251400194p3/1230913.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">961234</id>
  <isbn>037550446X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375504464</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">2</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/961234.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>4.00</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>3</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[The heroine of <em>Passing</em> takes an elevator from the infernal  August Chicago streets to the breezy rooftop of the heavenly Drayton Hotel, &quot;wafted upward on a magic carpet to another world, pleasant, quiet, and strangely remote from the sizzling one that she had left below.&quot; Irene is black, but like her author, the Danish-African American Nella Larsen (a star of the 1920s to mid-1930s  Harlem Renaissance and the first black woman to win a Guggenheim creative-writing award), she can &quot;pass&quot; in white society. Yet one woman in the tea room, &quot;fair and golden, like a sunlit day,&quot; keeps staring at her, and eventually introduces herself as Irene's childhood friend Clare, who left their hometown 12 years before when her father died. Clare's father had been born &quot;on the left hand&quot;--he was the product of a legal marriage between a white man and a black woman and therefore cut off from his inheritance. So she was raised penniless by white racist relatives, and now she passes as white. Even Clare's violent white husband is in the dark about her past, though he teases her about her tan and affectionately calls her &quot;Nig.&quot;  He laughingly explains: &quot;When we were first married, she was white as--as--well as white as a lily. But I declare she's getting darker and darker.&quot; As Larsen makes clear, <em>Passing</em> can also mean dying, and Clare is in peril of losing her identity and her life.<p>  The tale is simple on the surface--a few adventures in Chicago and New York's high life, with lots of real people and race-mixing events described (explicated by Thadious M. Davis's helpful introduction and footnotes). But underneath, it seethes with rage, guilt, sex, and complex deceptions. Irene fears losing her black husband to Clare, who seems increasingly predatory. Or is this all in Irene's mind? And is everyone wearing a mask? Larsen's book is a scary hall of mirrors, a murder mystery that can't resolve itself. It sticks with you. <em>--Tim Appelo</em></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Dec 11 12:15:59 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Dec 18 12:30:39 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Despite the number of stars I gave it, I did actually like this book. I think that it was such a fast read, that it just didn't really have time to sink into my consciousness. Who knows. <br/><br/>This book was first published in 1929 (I think) and that says a lot about how the characters act and ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39883621">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39883621]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39883621]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>41910506</id>
    <user>
    <id>110397</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Charmayne]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Gambier, OH]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/110397-charmayne]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">349929</id>
  <isbn>0142437271</isbn>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889s/349929.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jan 04 19:08:06 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Jan 04 19:08:06 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Another book from Freshman English 101 that I recently picked up and re-read.  Although a short novel, the language has several layers of meaning making it a book not to be read lightly.  Even the title has a lot embedded in it: crossing a border, death, notions of who gets passed over/erased, etc. ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41910506">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41910506]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41910506]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>71451671</id>
    <user>
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    <name><![CDATA[Nicole]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at>Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Sep 16 13:30:47 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Oct 15 14:34:40 -0700 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[I thought that The Passing was a very well described view on the passing of blacks to white, because it is from a different perspective than we usually get.  It is from an emotional and descriptive character that can easily be one of them, but chooses not to and shows her feelings of why she doesn't...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/71451671">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
  <id>68405031</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Amy]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Cary, NC]]></location>
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  <isbn>0142437271</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142437278</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at>Thu Aug 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Aug 21 19:51:33 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Aug 23 09:55:30 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book was compelling plot-wise but could have used a lot more character development.It seems like it would have been a better play especially since the writing style was straightforward and not very poetic. The author wrote it in 3 parts, so it seems like it would have been an easy transition. T...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68405031">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68405031]]></url>
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      <review>
  <id>77450886</id>
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    <id>2727885</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Prerak]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
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  <id type="integer">537269</id>
  <isbn>0486437132</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780486437132</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">3</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing (Dover Books on Literature &amp; Drama)]]>
  </title>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/537269.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.36</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>14</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[The heroine of <em>Passing</em> takes an elevator from the infernal  August Chicago streets to the breezy rooftop of the heavenly Drayton Hotel, &quot;wafted upward on a magic carpet to another world, pleasant, quiet, and strangely remote from the sizzling one that she had left below.&quot; Irene is black, but like her author, the Danish-African American Nella Larsen (a star of the 1920s to mid-1930s  Harlem Renaissance and the first black woman to win a Guggenheim creative-writing award), she can &quot;pass&quot; in white society. Yet one woman in the tea room, &quot;fair and golden, like a sunlit day,&quot; keeps staring at her, and eventually introduces herself as Irene's childhood friend Clare, who left their hometown 12 years before when her father died. Clare's father had been born &quot;on the left hand&quot;--he was the product of a legal marriage between a white man and a black woman and therefore cut off from his inheritance. So she was raised penniless by white racist relatives, and now she passes as white. Even Clare's violent white husband is in the dark about her past, though he teases her about her tan and affectionately calls her &quot;Nig.&quot;  He laughingly explains: &quot;When we were first married, she was white as--as--well as white as a lily. But I declare she's getting darker and darker.&quot; As Larsen makes clear, <em>Passing</em> can also mean dying, and Clare is in peril of losing her identity and her life.<p>  The tale is simple on the surface--a few adventures in Chicago and New York's high life, with lots of real people and race-mixing events described (explicated by Thadious M. Davis's helpful introduction and footnotes). But underneath, it seethes with rage, guilt, sex, and complex deceptions. Irene fears losing her black husband to Clare, who seems increasingly predatory. Or is this all in Irene's mind? And is everyone wearing a mask? Larsen's book is a scary hall of mirrors, a murder mystery that can't resolve itself. It sticks with you. <em>--Tim Appelo</em></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at>Sun Dec 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Nov 11 11:05:36 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Dec 13 13:54:54 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book was alright. It lingered on and added fluff that i thought was not necessary. Overall the book was a little exciting especially at the end when Clare dies. The book does not indicate how she died or who killed her but i think it is herself. She was always emotional and Irene seems to contr...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77450886">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77450886]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>79498728</id>
    <user>
    <id>231289</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Pirate]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Francisco, CA]]></location>
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  <isbn>0142437271</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142437278</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
  </title>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing</link>
  <average_rating>3.77</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1218</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others-and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.  <br/><br/>  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
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    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at>Fri Nov 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Nov 30 23:44:46 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Nov 30 23:49:25 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[While this wasn't a particularly deep read, it was a good period piece about a slice of life not much seen.  I'd add it to my &quot;hiding in plain sight&quot; list, if I had one. I could identify with the characters' feelings of being &quot;other,&quot; and the awkwardness of people believing you a...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79498728">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79498728]]></url>
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      <review>
  <id>66898861</id>
    <user>
    <id>20698</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Larissa]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>
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  <isbn>0375758135</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375758133</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">5</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Passing]]>
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  <average_rating>3.45</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>22</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[The heroine of <em>Passing</em> takes an elevator from the infernal  August Chicago streets to the breezy rooftop of the heavenly Drayton Hotel, &quot;wafted upward on a magic carpet to another world, pleasant, quiet, and strangely remote from the sizzling one that she had left below.&quot; Irene is black, but like her author, the Danish-African American Nella Larsen (a star of the 1920s to mid-1930s  Harlem Renaissance and the first black woman to win a Guggenheim creative-writing award), she can &quot;pass&quot; in white society. Yet one woman in the tea room, &quot;fair and golden, like a sunlit day,&quot; keeps staring at her, and eventually introduces herself as Irene's childhood friend Clare, who left their hometown 12 years before when her father died. Clare's father had been born &quot;on the left hand&quot;--he was the product of a legal marriage between a white man and a black woman and therefore cut off from his inheritance. So she was raised penniless by white racist relatives, and now she passes as white. Even Clare's violent white husband is in the dark about her past, though he teases her about her tan and affectionately calls her &quot;Nig.&quot;  He laughingly explains: &quot;When we were first married, she was white as--as--well as white as a lily. But I declare she's getting darker and darker.&quot; As Larsen makes clear, <em>Passing</em> can also mean dying, and Clare is in peril of losing her identity and her life.<p>  The tale is simple on the surface--a few adventures in Chicago and New York's high life, with lots of real people and race-mixing events described (explicated by Thadious M. Davis's helpful introduction and footnotes). But underneath, it seethes with rage, guilt, sex, and complex deceptions. Irene fears losing her black husband to Clare, who seems increasingly predatory. Or is this all in Irene's mind? And is everyone wearing a mask? Larsen's book is a scary hall of mirrors, a murder mystery that can't resolve itself. It sticks with you. <em>--Tim Appelo</em></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1969</published>
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    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at>Tue Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Aug 10 18:16:13 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Sep 20 15:25:42 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[My oft-cited professor friend suggested this book to me, explaining that Larsen was half-Danish (and a librarian) and a frequently overlooked member of the Harlem Renaissance. Even though my friend forewarned me that the prose of <em>Passing</em> was, perhaps, not its strength, however, I have to admit that ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66898861">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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