Member of The Club :
Reflections on Life in a Polarized World

Description Table of Contents Praise Buy the Book

Description:

Member of the Club  was Lawrence Otis Graham’s 11th book, but it was the one that brought national recognition to his smart and insightful essays on race, class and politics.  This book is best known for revealing Graham’s experience of leaving his successful corporate law practice at one of New York’s largest law firms in order to go undercover as a busboy at a famous Connecticut country club that discriminates against African Americans, Jews, Hispanics, Asians and women.  An excerpt of this book appeared on the cover of New York Magazine and made it their best-selling issue in the publication’s history.   Many publications, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and USA Today, have cited chapters in Member of the Club as evidence that Graham has used thoughtful research and arguments to find solutions to discrimination and to bring about racial and ethnic understanding.  His pieces on affirmative action, interracial dating, discrimination in corporate America, black politicians and diversity in education were so popular, they appeared in such publications as Glamour, The New York Times, Essence and the collection, Best American Essays.

Table of Contents:

Invisible Man: Why This Harvard-Trained Lawyer Went Undercover as a Busboy at an All-White Connecticut Country Club

Never Dated a White Girl: Why Some Blacks Still Oppose Interracial Marriage

Head Negro in Charge: Roles that Black Professionals Play in Corporate America

The Shame of the Black Middle Class

My Dinner with Mr. Charlie: A Black Man’s Undercover Guide to Dining with Dignity in New York’s Top 10 Restaurants

How White People Taught Me to be a Good Black Neighbor: A Suburban Allegory

Who’s Running This Race: The Black Leaders We Like and The Ones We Don’t

The Black Lunch Table is Still There

The Underside of Paradise: Being Black at Princeton

Black Man with a Nose Job: How We Defend Ethnic Beauty in America

Moving from Black Rage to “Bias Neutralizing”: A New Paradigm for Affirmative Action

Harlem On My Mind:  A Journey Through Harlem Rich and Poor

Praise:

"This clear-eyed account should be required reading for all Americans"

-Kirkus Reviews

“In Member of the Club, Graham is totally original, always deft.”

-Washington Post