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Of the Diaspora
Tragic Magic
Tragic Magic is the story of Melvin Ellington, a.k.a. Mouth, a black, twenty-something, ex-college radical who has just been released from a five-year prison stretch after being a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. Brown structures this first-person tale around Ellington's first day on the outside. Although hungry for freedom and desperate for female companionship, Ellington is haunted by a past that drives him to make sense of those choices leading up to this day. Through a filmic series of flashbacks the novel revisits Ellington's prison experiences, where he is forced to play the unwilling patsy to the predatorial Chilly and the callow pupil of the not-so-predatorial Hardknocks; then dips further back to Ellington's college days where again he takes second stage to the hypnotic militarism of the Black Pantheresque Theo, whose antiwar politics incite the impressionable narrator to oppose his parents and to choose imprisonment over conscription; and finally back to his earliest high school days where we meet in Otis the presumed archetype of Ellington's "tragic magic" relationships with magnetic but dangerous avatars of black masculinity in crisis.
But the effect of the novel cannot be conveyed through plot recapitulation alone, for its style is perhaps even more provoking than its subject. Originally published in 1978, and edited by Toni Morrison during her time at Random House, this Of the Diaspora edition of Tragic Magic features a new introduction by author Wesley Brown.
But the effect of the novel cannot be conveyed through plot recapitulation alone, for its style is perhaps even more provoking than its subject. Originally published in 1978, and edited by Toni Morrison during her time at Random House, this Of the Diaspora edition of Tragic Magic features a new introduction by author Wesley Brown.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
18 people are currently reading
714 people want to read
About the author
Wesley Brown
46 books18 followersNovelist, playwright, and teacher Wesley Brown was born and raised in Harlem, NYC. His work includes three acclaimed novels (Tragic Magic, Darktown Strutters, and Push Comes to Shove) and three produced plays (Boogie Woogie and Booker T, Life During Wartime, and A Prophet Among Them).
Brown's work often reflects his political involvement. In 1965, Brown worked with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party on voting registration. In 1968, he became a member of the Black Panther Party in Rochester, New York. In 1972, he was sentenced to three years in prison for refusing induction into the armed services and spent eighteen months in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.
He is Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University, where he taught for 27 years. He currently teaches literature at Bard College at Simon's Rock, and lives in Spencertown, New York.
Brown's work often reflects his political involvement. In 1965, Brown worked with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party on voting registration. In 1968, he became a member of the Black Panther Party in Rochester, New York. In 1972, he was sentenced to three years in prison for refusing induction into the armed services and spent eighteen months in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.
He is Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University, where he taught for 27 years. He currently teaches literature at Bard College at Simon's Rock, and lives in Spencertown, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 3, 2025
"It's too late for you to take your own weight. You should have done that the first day when I walked up and touched you. In the penitentiary a man never lets somebody touch him that he don't know. But you ain't no man!" (57).
I discovered this book because I read that the one and only Toni Morrison edited this in 1978. Thank goodness for having read Dana A. Williams' biography "Toni at Random", about Morrison's years as a senior editor at Random House. That book listed titles by other authors whose work and themes that I often connect with.
"Tragic Magic" is both a satire and a darkly tragicomic work commenting on those who break the status quo.
The book centers on Melvin "Mouth" Ellington, a young black man who served prison time for not fighting in Vietnam. Mouth's strange odyssey starts at the present, and goes back in time through his flashbacks. His time in prison is uproariously funny, but a heavy mood pervades the novel’s air.
After his release, Mouth and his friend Otis engage in crime that leads to an assault with fatal consequences. His reunion with a girlfriend, Alice is the more uplifting part of the novel, the one hopeful and literally sexy moment that bookends in optimism for a future that seems quite bleak, especially if you're a black man, and a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War.
The book's use of jazz riffs using Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald's musical interpretations of some of the American songbook standards drives this non linear, strange odyssey of a novel. Although it was a bit meandering at times, it is nonetheless a compelling and irresistible read.
Also praised by James Baldwin and Ishmael Reed, this book not only documents a work of comedic genius by an underrated black writer- but a document that lives on that shows how much of an impact Toni Morrison made on her contributions as an editor. I cannot help but feel that when Morrison herself riffs on music, and especially in her novels "Beloved" and "Jazz"- she might have had Wesley Brown at the back of her head.
I discovered this book because I read that the one and only Toni Morrison edited this in 1978. Thank goodness for having read Dana A. Williams' biography "Toni at Random", about Morrison's years as a senior editor at Random House. That book listed titles by other authors whose work and themes that I often connect with.
"Tragic Magic" is both a satire and a darkly tragicomic work commenting on those who break the status quo.
The book centers on Melvin "Mouth" Ellington, a young black man who served prison time for not fighting in Vietnam. Mouth's strange odyssey starts at the present, and goes back in time through his flashbacks. His time in prison is uproariously funny, but a heavy mood pervades the novel’s air.
After his release, Mouth and his friend Otis engage in crime that leads to an assault with fatal consequences. His reunion with a girlfriend, Alice is the more uplifting part of the novel, the one hopeful and literally sexy moment that bookends in optimism for a future that seems quite bleak, especially if you're a black man, and a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War.
The book's use of jazz riffs using Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald's musical interpretations of some of the American songbook standards drives this non linear, strange odyssey of a novel. Although it was a bit meandering at times, it is nonetheless a compelling and irresistible read.
Also praised by James Baldwin and Ishmael Reed, this book not only documents a work of comedic genius by an underrated black writer- but a document that lives on that shows how much of an impact Toni Morrison made on her contributions as an editor. I cannot help but feel that when Morrison herself riffs on music, and especially in her novels "Beloved" and "Jazz"- she might have had Wesley Brown at the back of her head.
June 11, 2025
More accurate rating: 4.4987654321
This is a solid start to an otherwise stellar bibliography (or, at least of what I have read as of writing this; who knows, could go tits up). The story of a Black conscientious objector who serves a few prime years in the state pen for refusing Vietnam not out of passion but apathy, Brown is largely alone in his situating and goals here. Much ado has been made in other reviews I cup-checked while logging on here about the strength of the 'language' or some similar term. For anyone not unfamiliar with pretty standard issue vernacular speech in the 1970s-80s America, I guess it could be unique. Maybe? To me, it just sounds like the pretty authentic bullshit of an in-world bullshit artist talking his way around a social superplex he is totally incapable of meeting head-on. So, pretty much like me writing this.
Special mention must be made of Brown's inclusion of some non-heteronormative passages that ARE very much ahead of their time (the book was first published in 1977; so was I). Observations of male beauty and physical suasion aren't offered as salacious, they are just given space. Within a first-person narrative, the logic of these sequences go without commentary or legitimization. Sort of, you know, how the mind will tend to wander and seldom find the need to then launch into an explicatory soliloquy. I'd offer more, but there's something shiny over there! -->
This is a solid start to an otherwise stellar bibliography (or, at least of what I have read as of writing this; who knows, could go tits up). The story of a Black conscientious objector who serves a few prime years in the state pen for refusing Vietnam not out of passion but apathy, Brown is largely alone in his situating and goals here. Much ado has been made in other reviews I cup-checked while logging on here about the strength of the 'language' or some similar term. For anyone not unfamiliar with pretty standard issue vernacular speech in the 1970s-80s America, I guess it could be unique. Maybe? To me, it just sounds like the pretty authentic bullshit of an in-world bullshit artist talking his way around a social superplex he is totally incapable of meeting head-on. So, pretty much like me writing this.
Special mention must be made of Brown's inclusion of some non-heteronormative passages that ARE very much ahead of their time (the book was first published in 1977; so was I). Observations of male beauty and physical suasion aren't offered as salacious, they are just given space. Within a first-person narrative, the logic of these sequences go without commentary or legitimization. Sort of, you know, how the mind will tend to wander and seldom find the need to then launch into an explicatory soliloquy. I'd offer more, but there's something shiny over there! -->
June 18, 2025
this was just a really good book, an easy read which portrayed identify, race, class and relationships in such a raw and quite thought provoking way.
‘you’ve always been hung up on what you’re supposed to feel, and not what you do feel. You want to be on everybody’s side but your own.’
‘you’ve always been hung up on what you’re supposed to feel, and not what you do feel. You want to be on everybody’s side but your own.’
July 28, 2024
This is an incredibly written book. Where the plot might come short, the language saves it. One of the most dialogue rich novels I’ve ever read. Really funny. Really theoretically interesting. Really in tune with black music. What a unique book. The first page is an essay. But I fear Baraka already wrote it……
May 14, 2021
Joining the McSweeney's monthly book club was maybe my best pandemic decision. Wesley Brown's 1978 novel TRAGIC MAGIC is the first of their OF THE DIASPORA-- North America series, and I'm certainly going to get the other two when possible!
August 30, 2021
What intrigued me most was how a book from 1978 would present and discuss the subject of male masculinity. I often wonder how the author would have written about the topic had the book had been written in 2021 instead of 1978. The long forward and introduction which was recently written was a real treat and I think helps position the book well. There are several themes in the book but masculinity is definitely a central part. The quote that stood out the most for me was “…you’re always hung up on how you are supposed to feel and not what you do feel.” I think all of us can see a little bit of Melvin Ellington in ourselves.
This is truly a under-appreciated book of literature, and it definitely deserved a re-print.
This is truly a under-appreciated book of literature, and it definitely deserved a re-print.
August 21, 2021
We volgen de Afro-Amerikaanse Melvin Ellington a.k.a. Mouth op de dag dat hij vrijkomt uit de gevangenis voor dienstweigering. Hij vond niet dat iemand zijn leven op het spel mocht zetten in Vietnam. Aan de hand van flashbacks uit zijn tijd in de gevangenis, de tijd daarvoor als college student toen hij lid was van een groep die wel wat weg had van The Black Panthers, en zijn tijd als kind, krijgen we een kijkje in het leven en begrijpen we beter waarom hij weigerde om in dienst te gaan en liever de bak in ging.
We komen er al snel achter dat hij - ondanks dat het wel van hem verwacht wordt - een vrij zachte jongen is. Aan de hand van verschillende 'vrienden' en kennissen in zijn verschillende levensfases - Chilly en Hardknocks in de bak, Theo tijdens college en Otis tijdens zijn kindertijd (die hij op zijn eerste vrije dag ook weer opzoekt en die wél naar Vietnam is gegaan en daar een hand is kwijtgeraakt) - leren we hem beter kennen.
Fijn om in zo'n kort boekje van nog geen 200 pagina's een beeld te krijgen van een jonge Afro-Amerikaanse jongen die niet meegaat in het hele 'je moet stoer doen om te overleven' ding - de fabel van de zwarte masculiniteit - en die lekker zijn eigen weg trekt. Hoe moeilijk dat ook is als je omringt wordt met andere voorbeelden.
Het was even wennen, maar het taalgebruik was ook fijn, inclusief een hoop slang en fonetisch geschreven woorden. Het gaf het boek een eigen karakter waardoor je direct het boek en de beschreven wereld werd ingezogen.
We komen er al snel achter dat hij - ondanks dat het wel van hem verwacht wordt - een vrij zachte jongen is. Aan de hand van verschillende 'vrienden' en kennissen in zijn verschillende levensfases - Chilly en Hardknocks in de bak, Theo tijdens college en Otis tijdens zijn kindertijd (die hij op zijn eerste vrije dag ook weer opzoekt en die wél naar Vietnam is gegaan en daar een hand is kwijtgeraakt) - leren we hem beter kennen.
Fijn om in zo'n kort boekje van nog geen 200 pagina's een beeld te krijgen van een jonge Afro-Amerikaanse jongen die niet meegaat in het hele 'je moet stoer doen om te overleven' ding - de fabel van de zwarte masculiniteit - en die lekker zijn eigen weg trekt. Hoe moeilijk dat ook is als je omringt wordt met andere voorbeelden.
Het was even wennen, maar het taalgebruik was ook fijn, inclusief een hoop slang en fonetisch geschreven woorden. Het gaf het boek een eigen karakter waardoor je direct het boek en de beschreven wereld werd ingezogen.
July 5, 2024
Browns Tragic Magic is a 5/5 and then some. Enjoyable and quick read. The main character came off a bit passive in his social interactions throughout the book especially when faced with racialized conflict. I appreciated the various types of characters Melvin came across during his time in jail.
The chapter when he went to visit the lawyer about his draft evader case was intriguing and now that I'm thinking about Melvin choosing to advocate for himself is far from passive so I may be off about my earlier judgment. Also a lot of characters seemed to have this feeling about Melvin's passivity so maybe I'm missing the marker on identifying traits and moments wherein I felt he wasn't passive. However, considering he was in jail for a number of years rebuilding social skills and b being hip to codes and customs of the culture is not something he forgot. He seemed to be welcomed into his home, his community as if he never left.
I also thought it was interesting how homoeroticism was sprinkled throughout the book especially in spaces where main character Melvin found himself among predominantly men. His "relationship" with Alice was interesting and generally just how the men in the story interacted with the women. His performance of normalcy is cracked when he goes to the club and gets rejected trying to pursue a lady.
Not really making any implications here but the inclusion of women in the book related to sex (hardly intimacy or romance) or they were a familial member.
Did not like Theo but I understand his positionality, I guess.
The chapter when he went to visit the lawyer about his draft evader case was intriguing and now that I'm thinking about Melvin choosing to advocate for himself is far from passive so I may be off about my earlier judgment. Also a lot of characters seemed to have this feeling about Melvin's passivity so maybe I'm missing the marker on identifying traits and moments wherein I felt he wasn't passive. However, considering he was in jail for a number of years rebuilding social skills and b being hip to codes and customs of the culture is not something he forgot. He seemed to be welcomed into his home, his community as if he never left.
I also thought it was interesting how homoeroticism was sprinkled throughout the book especially in spaces where main character Melvin found himself among predominantly men. His "relationship" with Alice was interesting and generally just how the men in the story interacted with the women. His performance of normalcy is cracked when he goes to the club and gets rejected trying to pursue a lady.
Not really making any implications here but the inclusion of women in the book related to sex (hardly intimacy or romance) or they were a familial member.
Did not like Theo but I understand his positionality, I guess.
May 6, 2021
Published in 1978, this is the story of a Queens native, Mervyn Ellington, just released after serving two years in prison of a three year sentence for refusing to serve in Vietnam. His memory is stirred by his first hours of freedom and the reality of getting home. Blended in with flashbacks to his youth is jazz, as it were his lifeblood.
At the heart of the book is the folly of becoming ensnared in the toxic masculinity trap, and the tragedy that ensues. In prison that is reaffirmed; the claustrophobia of the community awash with rampant homophobia and misogyny, that Melvyn gets caught up in.
Brown’s stance though is not to endorse, but to reckon with the fall out of the damaged and disfigured men.
It’s a very topical story about gender, and unsurprisingly earning a reissue; how we got to where we are in the gender debate, but also in the light of the Floyd trial, Brown seeks to revitalise the Black contingent, away from the defiance of forces that try to contain and devour.
At the heart of the book is the folly of becoming ensnared in the toxic masculinity trap, and the tragedy that ensues. In prison that is reaffirmed; the claustrophobia of the community awash with rampant homophobia and misogyny, that Melvyn gets caught up in.
Brown’s stance though is not to endorse, but to reckon with the fall out of the damaged and disfigured men.
It’s a very topical story about gender, and unsurprisingly earning a reissue; how we got to where we are in the gender debate, but also in the light of the Floyd trial, Brown seeks to revitalise the Black contingent, away from the defiance of forces that try to contain and devour.
January 2, 2023
This was a really smooth and thought-provoking read. The main character, Melvin Ellington, has such a poetic stream-of-consciousness and a very interesting perspective the way he ponders themes of masculinity and the expectations surrounding him as a young black man in America who ends up serving prison time for refusing induction in the Vietnam war. The book interweaves events of his life leading up to that, his experience in prison, and reuniting with family and some old friends the day he gets out, and all the clashing perspectives and ideals he encounters throughout. It paints a lively picture of 1970s NYC and I personally enjoyed that there were quite a few classic movie references too.
July 11, 2021
McSweeney's Diaspora series beautifully reissues this treasure from 1978. In Tragic Magic Brown fashioned a gritty yet exquisitely crafted portrait of African American masculinity of that fraught time that only seems more relevant today. Imagine Catcher In The Rye mashed up with HBO's Oz, or Ralph Ellison rewiring early Phillip Roth. Narrator Mouth is a wonderfully complex character, coming of age through the Vietnam War era, Black Panthers style counterculture, prison, college, New York City, and the opposite sex. For fans of Spike Lee, Paul Beatty, Junot Diaz and Colson Whitehead.
June 1, 2021
Recently reprinted by McSweeney's. The Black protagonist cuts his own college stint short, refuses the draft and goes to prison. This short novel follows him on his first day out, flashing back to prison drama and college politics, greeting family again after two years, heading out on the town, and exploring the difficulties of masc norms & with jazz riffs throughout.
June 21, 2022
I think this would be a good book to introduce into freshman college classes. Not only is the writing style and story telling timeline of this story interesting, the main character and his “friend” present a look at masculinity, forced drafting during the Vietnam war, and being a black man on top of all that.
January 26, 2024
I've been reading a lot of books all at once, and didn't get very far into this before being diverted. Once I resumed, I couldn't stop it was so engaging, and I reached the end quickly. Smart and slick and cool.
June 29, 2021
The dialogue in this book seemed so alive, I felt like I was really listening into the character's conversations. Brown's book is a true under-appreciated classic of American literature.
August 21, 2025
Good insight into black America.
September 11, 2025
super fun read straight out of the jazz age. definitely feels a little spike lee, do the right thing-esque in its structure which i love. melvin is actually real asf.
September 23, 2025
I loved the writing. It has a beat and an urgency, and yet the storyline trails off down an alley in New York City, never to be seen again.
October 15, 2025
God I love the way Wesley Brown writes ! Especially in this book the way dialogue swings intentionally, reminiscent of Miles Davis or Dexter Gordon solos.
August 30, 2025
Dit boek heeft nogal wat lof toegezwaaid gekregen, zo blijkt uit de citaten op de kaft en de achterzijde. 'One hell of a writer', zegt James Baldwin. 'The jaunty prose version of the urban blues', is het oordeel van de New York Times. En het is vast inderdaad een heel goed boek, dat allerlei kwesties aanroert die betrekking hebben op het leven van een jonge zwarte man in New York. En toch heb ik niet volop van dit boek kunnen genieten, want ik kan de taal niet goed volgen, waardoor ik de indruk krijg dat nogal wat mij ontgaat. De soms wat obscure verwijzingen naar jazz gaan nog wel, omdat ik daar redelijk in thuis ben. Maar ik andere gevallen vraag ik mij af of ik het begrijp, of weet ik zelfs zeker dat de betekenis van de tekst mij ontgaat.
His-tory en my-story
Ik kan bijvoorbeeld soms moeilijk uitmaken wanneer een scene of woordenwisseling komisch of serieus bedoeld is. Dit lijkt mij bijvoorbeeld uiterst komisch:
"Theo, if you want to fuck white girls, go ahead. But don't tell me who to fuck."
"You just have no sense of history."
Hilarisch toch? Maar op dezelfde pagina vindt even later een discussie plaats over 'his-tory' en 'my-story' als respectievelijk witte en zwarte perspectieven op de geschiedenis. Is die opmerking van Theo misschien dan toch niet komisch bedoeld? Of is het juist de grap dat het niet grappig is bedoeld? Hm.
Slang
Het boek staat bol van de slang, waardoor soms hele zinnen moeilijk te begrijpen zijn. Een enkele keer biedt de context soelaas, bijvoorbeeld in dit geval: "Anybody that laughs behind getting the shit slapped out of em definitely ain’t dealing with a full deck." Gezien de scene die eraan voorafging, moet dit iets betekenen als 'iemand die lacht na een pak slaag heeft ze niet op een rijtje'. Maar in andere gevallen biedt de context te weinig houvast en sta je met legen handen. Een paar voorbeelden:
- One way or another, somebody will be getting up off of something. [ja, dat staat er letterlijk]
- Make them go for the okey doke and jump Proteus on them on general principle.
- Why wasn’t there a dirge in my slide for Otis?
Voor lezers die thuis zijn in dat taaltje is dit boek natuurlijk veel genietbaarder. Maar ik behoor helaas niet tot die groep.
His-tory en my-story
Ik kan bijvoorbeeld soms moeilijk uitmaken wanneer een scene of woordenwisseling komisch of serieus bedoeld is. Dit lijkt mij bijvoorbeeld uiterst komisch:
"Theo, if you want to fuck white girls, go ahead. But don't tell me who to fuck."
"You just have no sense of history."
Hilarisch toch? Maar op dezelfde pagina vindt even later een discussie plaats over 'his-tory' en 'my-story' als respectievelijk witte en zwarte perspectieven op de geschiedenis. Is die opmerking van Theo misschien dan toch niet komisch bedoeld? Of is het juist de grap dat het niet grappig is bedoeld? Hm.
Slang
Het boek staat bol van de slang, waardoor soms hele zinnen moeilijk te begrijpen zijn. Een enkele keer biedt de context soelaas, bijvoorbeeld in dit geval: "Anybody that laughs behind getting the shit slapped out of em definitely ain’t dealing with a full deck." Gezien de scene die eraan voorafging, moet dit iets betekenen als 'iemand die lacht na een pak slaag heeft ze niet op een rijtje'. Maar in andere gevallen biedt de context te weinig houvast en sta je met legen handen. Een paar voorbeelden:
- One way or another, somebody will be getting up off of something. [ja, dat staat er letterlijk]
- Make them go for the okey doke and jump Proteus on them on general principle.
- Why wasn’t there a dirge in my slide for Otis?
Voor lezers die thuis zijn in dat taaltje is dit boek natuurlijk veel genietbaarder. Maar ik behoor helaas niet tot die groep.
March 29, 2015
Melvin Ellington has just gotten out of jail for refusing to serve in the military. He reconnects with old friends, potential lovers, and family. The book all takes place in this first day of his release with some flashbacks to being in jail or of the circumstances leading up to his decision to dodge the draft. Many of the interesting aspects of the book have to do with discussions around the nature of race, since Melvin and his friends are black, but his Conscientious Objector stance is perceived as a "white thing."
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews