Music. Flight. Racism. The tales in Ralph Ellison's posthumous collection of short fiction, Flying Home and Other Stories (173 pages; Random House; $23) deal with a variety of issues, but certain concerns pop up repeatedly, variations on compelling melodies. Characters in different stories burst into song; birds and airplanes are seen as metaphors for freedom; and white racism is a fanged, fearsome threat.
Ellison was a great writer but not a prolific one. Born in 1914, he published only one novel, Invisible Man, before his death in 1994. Flying Home represents a welcome addition to his oeuvre. Of the 13 stories...
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