Stuart MacLean actually reccommended this book. Go figure.

But what it is, see, is this white guy, in 1959, who, by taking some kind of prescription medicine, and by applying dye to his skin, turns himself into a black man, and travels through the American south.

These are the days where transportation, restaurants, bathrooms, everything is totally segregated, where the majority honestly believed that black people were genetically inferior, where lynchings and beatings and the like were even less likely to get the public to bat an eye.

Griffin didn’t change anything but the colour of his skin. He wore the same clothes, gave people honest answers to their questions about his family, his education, his skills, his acheivements.

But life with dark skin was different.

This is an engaging and thought-provoking read. I suggest seeking out the second edition or later, because the epilogue about the race riots and eventual emancipation really helps to give the book more context. I recommend reading it. After all, it’s not so many years ago – and not that very much has changed, when you think about it.