The Wig — Charles Wright

Fiction. African American Studies. Originally published in 1966, THE WIG is the story of Lester Jefferson, a young man of great good will, whose repeated attempts to become a part of "The Great Society" are doomed in advance. Aided, thwarted, and confused by numerous, curious companions, Lester conducts his inevitable search for happiness in a series of absurdist misadventures that begin with the transformation of the hair on his head into burnished silken curls. "Charles Wright's Negro world explodes with the crazy laughter of a man past caring.His style, as mean and vicious a weapon as a rusty hacksaw, is the perfect vehicle for his zany pessimism.THE WIG is a brutal, exciting, and necessary book"-Conrad Knickerbocker for The New York Times.