“The Fortress of Solitude“ By Jonathan Lethem

Jonathan Lethem’s “The Fortress of Solitude“ is a sprawling and intricate novel that explores themes of race, identity, art, and the power of imagination. The story is set in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of Boerum Hill in Brooklyn during the 1970s and 80s and follows the lives of two boys, Dylan Ebdus, a white boy from a broken home, and Mingus Rude, a black boy from a family of former Black Panthers. One of the central themes of the novel is the way in which race and class shape identity and perception. Dylan is acutely aware of his whiteness and his outsider status in the predominantly black neighborhood. He struggles to fit in and is frequently bullied by the other kids. Mingus, on the other hand, is deeply connected to his African-American heritage and struggles to reconcile his family’s radical politics with the changing landscape of the neighborhood. Throughout the novel, Lethem explores the way in which the boys’ experiences are shaped by the world around the