Cranston Public Library

Set in the 1930s, this novel traces the rise and fall of demagogue Willie Talos, a fictional Southern politician who resembles the real-life Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. Talos begins his career as an idealistic man of the people, but he soon becomes corrupted by success, caught between dreams of service and a lust for power.

This insightful study opens with an overview of Hansberry's cultural, social, political, and philosophical views and their relations to her artistic goals.