Kingsblood Royal, an overlooked masterpiece by the first American to receive the Nobel Prize in literature, is a moving and wickedly hilarious picture of a man who renounces the white race. An amazing portrait of two Americas-one black and one white-is created by the adventure that follows the stunning discovery that Neil Kingsblood, a normal middleclass banker with a good life, has AfricanAmerican blood. One simply needs to open today's newspaper to witness the same intense discussions between blacks and whites that we find in Kingsblood Royal, according to Charles Johnson, making it just as topical today as it was when it was first published in 1947.