LeRoy S. Hodges, Jr., has written a lively and informative biography of a Black writer of merit whose works have not enjoyed the wide readership they deserve. Interweaving discussion and criticism of William Gardner Smith’s literary work with an account of his life, Hodges provides summaries and critical evaluations of Smith’s novels and his nonfiction. He gives us insight into the experience of Black writers who chose to live abroad and looks searchingly at the problem of alienation.