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Overview
Set against the tensions of Civil Rights era America, Dreamer is a remarkable fictional excursion into the last two years of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, when the political and personal pressures on this country's most preeminent moral leader were the greatest. While in Chicago for his first northern campaign against poverty and inequality, King encounters Chaym Smith, whose startling physical resemblance to King wins him the job of official stand-in. Matthew Bishop, a civil rights worker and loyal follower of King, is given the task of training the smart and deeply cynical Smith for the job. In doing so, Bishop must face the issue of what makes one man great while another man can only stand in for greatness. Provocative, heartfelt, and masterfully rendered, Charles Johnson confirms yet again that he is one of the great treasures of modern American literature.
Dr. Charles Johnson is a novelist, screenwriter, essayist, professional cartoonist and the Pollock Professor of English at the University of Washington. He is the author of more than sixteen books, including the PEN/Faulkner nominated story collection The Sorcerer's Apprentice and the novel Middle Passage, for which he won the National Book Award.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781439125526 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Scribner |
| Publication date: | 05/11/2010 |
| Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 240 |
| Sales rank: | 466,213 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
From Chapter One
I knocked on his open bedroom door. "Doc?"
Rolling over, he crushed the lumpy pillow against his chest but kept his eyes closed, probably hoping whoever had come would go away, at least for a few moments more. Except for one other security person, we were alone in the apartment. His wife and children were staying at the home of Mahalia Jackson until the shooting died down. Later he would tell me he'd been dreaming of the sunset at Land's End, that breathtaking stretch of beach on Cape Comorin in the Hindu state of Kerala, which struck him as the closest thing to paradise when he and Coretta traveled to India: he dreamed an ancient village of brown-skinned people (Africa was in their ancestry) who knew their lord Vishnu by a thousand names, for He was imminent in the sky and sand, wood and stone, masquerading as Many. He'd come to India not as a celebrated civil rights leader but as a pilgrim. To learn. And though the promise of that pilgrimage was cut short when he plunged into the ongoing crisis back home, he had indeed learned much. Against the glorious sunset of Kerala, with the softest whisper of song carried on the wind from temples close by, Ahimsa paramo dharma, his wife took his hand and turned him to see the moon swell up from the sea, and in that evanescent instant, at the place where the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal flowed together, he experienced an ineffable peace, and had never felt so free, and...
"Doc, I'm sorry to bother you," I said into the darkness. Though the lamps were off, burning fires outside the window pintoed his bedroom wall. "There's someone here to see you. I think you'd better take a look at him."
When he looked toward the door, toward me, I knew what he saw: a twenty-four-year-old with the large, penetrating "frog eyes" of his friend James Baldwin behind a pair of granny glasses, dehydrating and dripping sweat in brown trousers and a short-sleeved shirt weighted down by a battery of pencils and pens. I stepped into the room and walked directly to the window, looking down before I shut it on streets turned into combat zones as treacherous as any that year in Tay Ninh or Phnom Penh. The fuse: black kids cranking on fire hydrants. The flame: police trying to stop them. The consequence: a crowd that poured bricks and whiskey bottles and then ricocheting bullets from balconies and rooftops. It was not a night, July 17, to be out in bedlam unless you had to be. Firefighters dousing blazes set by roving street gangs had to be out there. Marksmen hunkered down behind their squad cars, praying that Governor Kerner would order, as promised, four thousand National Guardsmen into the city, had to be there—and so in a few short hours did the man whose sleep I had interrupted.
At the window, I could see two men shoot out the streetlight at the intersection of Sixteenth Street and South Hamlin. Their first shots missed the target; then at last one struck, plunging the corner into darkness. A sound of shattering glass came from the grocery store on Sixteenth Street. The pistol fire had been so close, just below the window, it changed air pressure inside the building, tightening my inner ear. Roving gangs were setting cars on fire. Light from the interiors of torched cars threw shadows like strokes of tar across the bedroom's furnishings. Below the window figures darted furtively through the darkness, their colors and clans indistinguishable, slaying—or trying to slay—one another. I no longer knew on which side of this slaying I belonged. Or if there was any victory, pleasure, or Promised Land that could justify the killing and destruction of the past three nights.
I looked at the watch on my wrist. The luminous numerals read 8:15, but it felt more like midnight in the soul.
"Who is it?" The minister rubbed his eyes. "Is he here for the Agenda Committee meeting? Tell him I'll be ready in just a minute—"
"No, sir. He's outside in the hallway now. Reverend, I think you need to take a look at this."
After swinging his feet to the floor, he sat hunched forward, both elbows on his knees, waiting for his head to clear. I noticed he wore no cross around his neck. Nor did he need one. With his shirt open, there in the bedroom's heat, I could see the scar tissue shaped like a rood—a permanent one—over his heart, carved into his flesh by physician Aubre D. Maynard when he removed Izola Curry's letter opener from his chest in Harlem Hospital. I knew he was tired, and I did not rush him. His staff had been working off-the-clock since the West Side went ballistic. He hadn't slept in two days. Neither had I. All this night I'd drifted in and out of nausea, finding a clear space where I briefly felt fine, then as I heard the gunfire again, sirens, the sickness returned in spasms of dizziness, leaving me weak and overheated, then chilled.
He reached toward his nightstand for the wristwatch he'd left on top of a stack of books—The Writings of Saint Paul, Maritain's Christianity and Democracy, Nietzsche's The Anti-Christ—alongside the sermon he was preparing for the coming Sunday. Typically, his sermons took two-thirds of a day to compose. In them his conclusions were never merely closures but always seemed to be fresh starting points. The best were classically formal, intentionally Pauline, cautious at the beginning like the first hesitant steps up a steep flight of stairs, then each carefully chosen refrain pushed it higher, faster, with mounting intensity, toward a crescendo that fused antique form and African rhythms, Old Testament imagery and America's most cherished democratic ideals—principles dating back to the Magna Carta—into a shimmering creation, a synthesis so beautiful in the way his words alchemized the air in churches and cathedrals it could convert the wolf of Gubbio. He was, I realized again, a philosopher, which was something easy to forget (even for him) in a breathless year that began with the January murder of student Sammy Younge in Alabama, seventeen-year-old Jerome Huey beaten to death in Cicero in May, Fred Hubbard shot in April, Ben Chester White (Mississippi) and Clarence Triggs (Louisiana) killed by the Klan in June and July, the Georgia legislature's refusal to seat Julian Bond in February because of his opposition to the Vietnam War, Kwame Nkrumah deposed as Ghana's leader the same month, then the slaughter of eight Chicago student nurses by a madman named Richard Speck. Not until I saw the books by his bed did I recall that in a less tumultuous time he taught Greek thought to a class of Morehouse students, among them Julian Bond, who testified that King, a freshly minted Ph.D., often looked up from his notes, closed his copy of Plato's collected dialogues, and brought whole cloth out of his head passages from Socrates' apology, emphasizing the seventy-one-year-old sage's reply to his executioners, "I would never submit wrongly to any authority through fear of death, but would refuse even at the cost of my life."
Copyright © 1998 by Charles Johnson
What People are Saying About This
Compelling and profound, Dreamer is a book fully equal to its monumental subject, Martin Luther King Jr. Charles Johnson is one of the great treasures of modern American literature.
With this new book Charles Johnson confirms his position at the summit of American letters. Dreamer is an inspired and glorious achievement, infused with its autor's expansive wisdom, his vibrant historical and moral imagination, and most of all, his heart. It is a transcendent, brilliant book.
Charles Johnson's Dreamer is a beautiful and heartfelt novel of substance; intriguing and cleverly rendered, it has a plot that entertains even as it throws a light on the life of Martin Luther King during the epoch of America's struggles with civil rights.
Magnificent, and like everything Charles Johnson does, deep and funny. As a writer, he goes places few of us dare to go. He's one of the most gifted writers I've read and is an inspiration to all writers.
Reading Group Guide
1. Who is the real "dreamer" in this novel? Is it Dr. King, dreaming of a world filled with equality and racial harmony? Is it Matthew Bishop, dreaming of the day he will truly become his own man, an individual who shines in his own glory rather than hides in the shadow of others? Or is it Chaym Smith, dreaming of the day he will achieve greatness like Dr. King, yet remain true to his own beliefs?
2. A major turning point for Matthew is the moment he gives in to his anger at the diner, lashing out at the waitress for her racist behavior. He is exhilarated by his response, even though it goes against everything Dr. King stands for. Discuss other events in Matthew's life that reflect Chaym's influence. Is it wrong for Matthew to behave in this manner, or is it a necessary step he must take to come to terms with his own anger and disillusionment?
3. Discuss ways in which Chaym and Matthew mirror each other. Both are smart and insightful, but while one always tries to take "the high road," the other is empowered by his refusal to accept the terms of others. Who ultimately emerges as the winner?
4. Many literary texts use the "doppelgänger" as a means to explore issues of good versus evil and nature versus nurture. How effectively does Johnson use this device to examine these and other issues? Compare his treatment to other books, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
5. Do you agree with Chaym's assertion that "all narratives are lies"? What does he mean when he says this? That we (individually or as a group) revise history to fit our needs, conveniently "forgetting" events that do not suit out agenda? Does the ability to revise the past make it easier to live with?
6. When Chaym is slated to make his first public appearance as Dr. King, Matthew closely watches the pulpit, unsure if the man at the podium is Chaym or Dr. King. Who did you think was making the speech as you read the novel? Is Chaym capable of giving such a speech? Discuss ways in which Chaym's fate might have changed had he, as planned, stood in for Dr. King that fateful day?
7. As Chaym dejectedly watches Dr. King accept congratulations for his rousing speech at the A.M.E. church, Matthew describes him as "undergoing a living death in the great man's presence." Doesn't this statement actually describe what Matthew himself goes through every day?
8. Chaym's emotional growth is charted by his drawings. His earlier artwork, completed before he joined the Movement, seems to focus on his own personal misery. Later, he looks outward and depicts the beauty he finds in his surroundings. What other events signal Chaym's growth?
9. Part of Matthew's job is to keep a detailed record of the Movement. Is Matthew an accurate keeper of the flame? Does his role as history's scribe make him more powerful than Smith, maybe even more powerful than Dr. King?
10. Matthew describes himself as "the insecure, callow prop in the background of someone else's story." Do you agree with his assessment? Is Matthew an observer or a participant in the making of history? Is he underestimating his importance to the Civil Rights Movement because he believes that his contributions are dwarfed by those of "great men" like Dr. King?
11. In the end, does Dr. King experience a change of heart when he questions the validity of his peaceful methods? Is this Chaym's influence shining through? Is King giving up or giving in to pressure?
12. What do you think about Chaym's ultimate decision to leave? Is he saving himself, or is he making a sacrifice for the good of Dr. King and the Movement? Was his leaving really the only possible outcome to his situation? What do you think ultimately became of Chaym?
13. What resemblances are there in the story of King and Chaym to the biblical tale of Cain and Abel? Consider the following:
There is a moment when each man discovers God. For King, it is a transforming experience that shows him the way to confront the world's evil, while Chaym's faith is short-lived, and he becomes disillusioned by the evils of the world. How does each man's relationship to God affect what happens to him?
What are Chaym's motivations in helping King? Is his offer to be a decoy a true gesture of self-sacrifice? Or does he covet King's position as a great and beloved leader?
Chaym eventually succumbs to the FBI's threats and cooperates with them out of fear, but we never learn exactly what happens to him. Do you think he betrays King? Might he be responsible for his death in some way?
Chaym is able to imitate King in all aspects except his faith in God. Does Chaym represent what King might have been without God?
14. Many famous figures who came to symbolize peace during their lives (King, Ghandi, Rabin, and even John Lennon) have been struck down by assassins' bullets. Discuss the irony of such voices of reason being silenced by the violence they loathed. Do you think Dr. King would be America's martyred symbol for Civil Rights had he not been murdered in his prime? Does his murder allow us to conduct our own kind of historical revision by letting us forget his limits as a man and leader, and focus solely on his tremendous achievements?
Interviews
On April 22nd, the barnesandnoble.com Live Events Auditorium welcomed Charles Johnson, who joined us to discuss DREAMER, his first novel since his National Book Award-winning MIDDLE PASSAGE.
Moderator: Welcome to barnesandnoble.com, Charles Johnson. We are pleased you can join us this evening to discuss DREAMER!
Charles Johnson: Thank you. It's a privilege to be here.
Marion Edwards from Chicago, IL: Much has been made of late about nonfiction books that blur the edges of fact. DREAMER is the reverse of that -- a novel in which reality is constantly present. Yet I wouldn't call DREAMER a historical novel. Why did you decide to write DREAMER in the form of a novel rather than a biography?
Charles Johnson: We can read history books and learn facts. But the advantage that a novelist has is that he or she can plunge us emotionally into a moment of history by using the historical record as the basis for the story and allowing his imagination and emotions to fill in the gaps.
Arthur from Newtown, PA: How much research did you need to do for DREAMER? What were your main sources for certain details and mannerisms of MLK -- newsreels, speeches, journals, interviews?
Charles Johnson: I spent two years reading biographies and histories of Dr. King before I started writing in 1993. I looked at documentary film footage over and over again about the Chicago Freedom Movement. I read magnificent works of history by Stephen Oates, David L. Lewis, Lerone Bennett; I read Coretta King's book on her life with Martin Luther King. And both volumes of the papers of Martin Luther King, which contain every scrap of paper that he wrote from his teenage years through his education at Boston University. I also studied his sermons, his speeches, and sources about the civil rights movement.
Jerzy from Michigan: Do you personally believe any of the conspiracy theories surrounding Martin Luther King Jr.'s death? Does your novel make any allusions to these theories? What do you think about King's son's appeal for James Earl Ray's freedom?
Charles Johnson: I don't ascribe to any particularly conspiracy theory, but in the very last chapter of DREAMER I record as thoroughly as I possibly can the inconsistencies and ambiguities surrounding the circumstances of his assassination. I personally think that many important questions have been left unanswered. And I believe the King family is justified in wanting to see any unclear aspects of Dr. King's murder cleared up.
Jain from Long Island: Were MLK's family members consulted for this book? Have they read DREAMER? Do you know what their response to DREAMER is?
Charles Johnson: My agent was contacted by the agent who represents the King family a few years ago to see if I would write a book about where the members of the King family are today. It was to be a quickie book, which I had to respectfully decline doing because I was working on DREAMER. But I did not consult any members of the King family as I wrote DREAMER. I don't know if any of them have read it yet. But if they do, I hope they will see it as a respectful homage to Dr. King.
Soraya from New Haven, CT: Mr. Johnson, I loved DREAMER. What was especially striking was the package and cover. Throughout reading the book, an eye from Reverend King's face watched me, making me feel as if I was constantly being observed. It often gave me pause as I read. Was this overlap of MLK's portrait from the front jacket intentional?
Charles Johnson: That's interesting. Just tonight a lady in a bookstore in Madison, Connecticut, pointed out to me that as she read the book, she felt King was watching her because the eye flaps over on the cover. I hadn't noticed that myself until tonight. I don't know if it was intentional on the part of the book's designer, but I agree with you that it must intensify the reading experience.
Matt from Trenton, NJ: Throughout DREAMER, you hint at King's demise. Do you think King himself knew he wasn't long for this world, that his life wasn't his own anymore?
Charles Johnson: I think Dr. King did know that his days were numbered. Toward the end of his life, he gave his wife a bouquet of plastic flowers and told her he wanted her to have something she could keep. He lived with a $30,000 bounty on his head and received as many as 40 death threats some days. I imagine he knew that his life would be short-lived because he told his wife after JFK was shot, "That's what's going to happen to me."
Aloysius from New York City: Have you ever met the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.?
Charles Johnson: Unfortunately, I did not have that privilege.
Steven from Home: Good evening, Charles Johnson. The information on this site about your book mentions that this is the first fictional account of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. Why do you think that is, and do you think that you have opened the door for more novelists to explore the life of this fascinating man? Have you ever thought about writing a novel about what would have happened if Dr. King had lived?
Charles Johnson: I came of age during the Black Power Movement, as did most middle-aged black writers today. In the late '60s and early '70s our attention was focused more on the legacy of Malcolm X than on the legacy of Dr. King. However, I should point out that we have no fictional portraits in novels or short stories about Malcolm X either. I wrote about Dr. King because I felt I had not fully appreciated or understood him deeply enough during his lifetime, and I wanted to explore his legacy 30 years after his death. I don't think I'll write another novel about Dr, King, but I do anticipate continuing to study his life and legacy and letting that legacy influence my short fiction and essays.
Ria from Bradenton, FL: I sometimes got so frustrated reading DREAMER with Matthew Bishop because I felt he was so powerless and passive as a narrator. Did you base his character on someone? Why did you use him as a narrator?
Charles Johnson: I chose Matthew to narrate DREAMER because he respects Dr. King so highly yet feels at times incapable of achieving the idealistic goals that King set before us. Matthew is struggling with a crisis of faith in his own life, and so Dr. King is inspirational to him and serves as a teacher; the double Chaym Smith also serves as his teacher, but in a slightly different way. As Matthew narrates the story, he undergoes his own spiritual odyssey. He is a kind of everyman, and in many ways at the end of the novel the legacy of Dr. King falls upon his shoulders and those of the woman he loves, Amy Griffith, as they move into the future beyond the day of King's assassination.
Dave from St. Louis, MO: Will there be a film version of DREAMER?
Charles Johnson: It's a little early to say, since the novel was just published on April 4th. I think it might be a little difficult to turn this book into a movie, but I'm willing to entertain any offers.
Samer from Mooresville, NC: There's a line that Matthew thinks to himself when he's out with Amy that has stuck in my mind: that African American women blame every black man for the burdens and suffering other black men have caused them. Do you think that's a true statement about African American relationships -- that they are almost hopeless from the beginning, like Amy and Matthew?
Charles Johnson: I think many young black men and women find themselves in the awkward position of Matthew and Amy, trying to overcome centuries of discrimination and oppression that effect even the personal lives of black people. What I like about Matthew and Amy's relationship is that they find a way to connect despite all those obstacles placed in their way.
Mark from New York City: Having a distrust for historical fiction for as long as I can remember, but as a literature lover always welcome to attempts at swaying my opinion, I wonder if you can shed some light on the merits of the genre? How do you outrun accusations of revisionism?
Charles Johnson: I've never seen myself as a writer of historical fiction. Instead I've always seen myself as a writer of philosophical fiction. However, the last three stories that I wanted to tell in my previous three novels all demanded that I situate them in the past. This was not something I chose to do, it was something demanded by the story itself. One virtue of setting a story in the past is that we have both emotional and aesthetic distance from those events and perhaps can see them with greater clarity. In regard to the problem of revisionism, I think that all history and historical fiction involve the art of interpretation. And what is delightful about history is that we can have numerous interpretations of a single event, each one of which enriches and deepens our understanding. So I don't think that there's a single truth to a historical event, but rather multiple truths that historians and novelists deliver to us.
Darias from Knoxville, TN: In your mind, do you know where Chaym Smith disappeared to? Has he arrived in a place in your imagination?
Charles Johnson: I left the fate of Chaym open. Matthew and Amy don't know any more about what happened to him than we know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. One of my students suggested to me that Chaym probably killed the two FBI agents and escaped. I find that idea intriguing.
Erica Beacon from Arlington, VA: The character of Chaym raises some very interesting questions. In your mind, what experiences separated Chaym from Dr. King? How did one become so respected and the other so ignored?
Charles Johnson: I think the difference between Chaym and Dr. King parallels in interesting ways the difference between Cain and Abel. Chaym is extremely talented and brilliant, perhaps even a genius, but what he lacks that Dr. King has is a profound spiritual faith and a tremendous capacity for self-sacrifice for others. I believe that is the fundamental difference between the fictional Dr. King character and Chaym Smith.
Karen Bahner from Eugene, OR: In all the biographical research you did on Dr. King, was there one fact about him that surprised you the most?
Charles Johnson: yes. I was surprised to learn that of all the philosophers he studied, the one who gave him the deepest trouble was Friedrich Nietzsche. Although when I think about it now, it seems perfectly logical that the author of THE WILL TO POWER and THE ANTICHRIST would trouble a Baptist minister's son.
Corrine from Dayton, MO: Speaking of Cain and Abel, would I get in trouble if I said that MLK and Malcolm X sort of personified that story? Do you deal with Malcolm X in DREAMER? Does the Nation of Islam play a role?
Charles Johnson: The Nation of Islam is referred to as well as Malcolm X in DREAMER, but Dr. King and specifically Chaym Smith are the principal actors on the stage of this drama.
Fern from Darien, CT: Greetings, Charles Johnson. I haven't read DREAMER yet but plan on ordering it. I would like to know what your writing schedule is like. How much time do you spend researching your novels? How much time writing? Do you write every day?
Charles Johnson: I spend roughly five to six years writing and researching a novel. I don't write every day. I tend to be a binge writer. I might write for three months straight, night and day, and them back off for a month to do more research. I tend to write at night, when it's quiet.
Shamus from Arizona: What's your opinion of President Clinton's attempts to start a dialogue on race?
Charles Johnson: I think his attempts are well intended. However, from what I've been reading about the dialogue on race, it seems like it's having a hard time getting off the ground.
Pamela from Rochester, NY: What influence did John Champlain Gardner have on your own writing?
Charles Johnson: John Gardner was my mentor and I think he was the greatest writing teacher that ever lived. Gardner looked over my shoulder while I was writing my first published novel, FAITH AND THE GOOD THING. And introduced me to the book world. He had an enormous influence on me as well as thousands of other young writers in the 1970s.
Perry Seminole from Albuquerque, NM: Do you still draw? Are you still painting? Where can we see your work?
Charles Johnson: Yes! I am determined to continue as a cartoonist. You can find new cartoons by me in Literal Latte and also in Quarterly Black Review of Books, in each of their issues.
Jenny Brady from Austin, TX: Who are your literary influences? Do you find any inspiration from any current writers?
Charles Johnson: My strongest literary influences are Jean Toomer, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, the American Transcendentalists, John Gardner, and somewhere in there I have to include Herman Hesse. I enjoy the work of numerous contemporary writers from James Alan McPherson to Joyce Carol Oates, Russell Banks, Sandra Cisneros, and more writers than I can list here.
Dorothy from Bellingham, WA: Hello, Charles Johnson. I loved MIDDLE PASSAGE and can't wait to read DREAMER. I just wondered if you feel you are still categorized as an African American writer, even after you won the National Book Award? Thank you for taking my question.
Charles Johnson: Thank you for your question. I will always be categorized as an African American writer, but what I hope is that readers can appreciate that black writing is American writing. I firmly am against pigeonholing authors, but it's true that every author brings a background to his or her writing that is indebted to their race, class, or gender. What great writers do, like Saul Bellow and Isaac Singer and Ralph Ellison, is to take the particulars of their background and show us the universal human condition that resides there.
Mary from Michigan: What was the first book you ever wrote?
Charles Johnson: I wrote six novels in two years -- I call them apprentice novels -- before I published my first novel, FAITH AND THE GOOD THING, in 1974.
Carley from Boston, MA: Hello. There's a lot of spiritual references outside of the Bible -- dharma is brought up a lot, as is koans and denzo. Why?
Charles Johnson: Hello. And thank you for your question. In DREAMER, Dr. King's spiritual tradition is Western and Christian; Chaym Smith's influences are largely from the East. Both of those traditions have an impact on the narrator, Matthew Bishop. In other words, he learns from both traditions and creates his own synthesis by the end of the novel.
Ben O. from Brooklyn, NY: In your opinion, how should President Clinton's words spoken in Africa about the slave trade and its evil be interpreted? Is this a good step for healing racial rifts in America?
Charles Johnson: I think that President's Clinton's apology for slavery was a good idea. I think it is, however, more important that he follow through on his goal of seeing an African Renaissance, as he put it. One in which American businesses find ways to enter into cooperative economic ventures with African economies. If this could be done, then the apology for slavery, an institution that economically developed the West at the expense of Africa, will have greater meaning.
Justine from Tulsa, OK: Cain and Abel is all over this book. Chaym is even alliteratively close to Cain. Why this biblical reference? Were you like Matthew, realizing the ubiquity of the story of Cain and Abel?
Charles Johnson: Thank you for being so astute. Cain and Abel struck me as being the perfect story from Genesis to use in this novel. The reason is because I've always seen Dr. King as being our better brother. Also, the civil rights movement is all about the relation of brothers (and sisters) across racial lines. It is a powerful, frightening, and revealing story about envy, inequality, and violence. As a subtheme in DREAMER, I think it amplifies our experience of the conflict between the races.
Moderator: Thank you very much for fielding all of our questions this evening, Mr. Johnson. We have it on good authority that tomorrow is your birthday and wish you many happy returns. Do you have any final words for our online audience this evening?
Charles Johnson: I would like to thank all the people who asked questions, and I especially want to thank those who have already read the book.