THE LONELY CONQUEROR, by Willi Heinrich (379 pp.; Dial; $4.95). British Critic Cyril Connolly once complained of the novelists who "can only sling a few traits on to the characters they are depicting and then hold them there. 'You can't miss So-and:So,' they explain, 'he stammers and now look, here he comes−;"What's your name?" "S-s-s-so- and-s-s-s-s-so" ' ' The novel of racial misalliance is often given to such trait slinging, and The Lonely Conqueror is no exception. The hero, Sergeant John Baako, U.S. Army, has colored skin, but beneath it lies a colorless stereotype. As...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
