Douglass: The Lost Autobiography

The Biographizer Trilogy #3

by D. Harlan Wilson

Frederick Douglass stands as one of American history’s most extraordinary figures, overcoming the evils of slavery and racial construction by force of will and grit. As a fervent abolitionist, gifted orator, and sagacious editor and author, he became one of the most outspoken and influential social reformers of his time. During his life, he published three autobiographies chronicling his struggle from childhood to adulthood, from slave to free man, from ignorance to power-knowledge. And yet the full narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, contrary to popular belief, has been incomplete ... until now. Recently recovered on an archeological dig in Ireland, where Douglass lectured extensively in the 1840s, this heretofore “lost” autobiography marks the fourth and final work in the library of his selfhood. Tying together loose ends in the previous three autobiographies while exposing remarkable, often disturbing secrets about his private life, Douglass portrays himself not only as a man of words and character but as a kind of anachronistic hipster and proto-beatnik. There is a reason this volume never saw publication during his lifetime. A reason—and a method.

“Once again, D. Harlan Wilson biographizes with a hammer. Beware.” —William Clarke Quantrill, Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Booker T. Washington Institute for African and African-American Research at Fostoria University

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

D. Harlan Wilson is an award-winning American novelist, literary critic, editor, playwright, and college professor. He is the author of over thirty book-length works of fiction and nonfiction, and hundreds of his stories, plays, essays, and reviews have been published across the world in more than ten languages. Wilson also serves as reviews editor for Extrapolation and editor-in-chief of Anti-Oedipus Press.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say about Douglass? Like the two books before it in the Biographizer series it is everything and it is nothing. There is the Mini Cooper again now Tom Cruise makes an appearance. There are asides, long diversions and the best non sequiturs ever. But, as with the previous books, this is no autobiography and only talks about Frederick Douglass tangentially. Do you know how hard it is to type Douglass without accidentally typing a 'b' where the 'g' should go? I have typed and corrected 'Doublass' each time I used the name in this review. Three times so far. How D. Harlan Wilson overcame this problem I can only speculate. Also, whenever I type the author's name I inevitably wind up capitalizing both the 'W' and the 'I' in 'Wilson.' These observations are not in the book but they very well could be.

We are told repeatedly that Chapter 4 is the most important and that we must go back and read it every few pages. We are reminded to do this. In fact, I think I'll go back and read it right now.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part 3 of the Biographizer series, yes I’m reading the collection out of order. Body building is a feat if you ex out the carbs and arrange cheat days with your favorite junk food. Or maybe I have that all wrong.
Uncover the evil slavey of writers and the questions students ask, even though everything was worded in plain and simple. And where did Donovan fella go?
Harlan is genius!