Flying home and other stories cover

Flying home and other stories

by Ralph Ellison

Written between 1937 and 1954 and collected here for the first time, Flying Home and Other Stories represents the best of Invisible Man author Ralph Ellison's short fiction. There are thirteen pieces, six of which were never published in Ellison's lifetime. Ellison draws on his early experiences - his father's death when he was three; hoboing his way on a freight train to Tuskegee Institute to follow his early dreams of becoming a musician - to create stories that, according to The Washington Post, "approach the simple elegance of Chekhov."

More by Ralph Ellison

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?