MEMBER OF THE CLUB: Reflections on Life...

MEMBER OF THE CLUB: Reflections on Life in a Racially Polarized World by Lawrence Otis Graham (HarperPerennial: $13.50, 300 pp.). Graham, a Harvard-educated black lawyer, received national attention when he published his account of working as a busboy in a whites-only Connecticut country club. The 12 provocative essays in this collection cover a broad range of topics, from the treatment African Americans receive in posh New York restaurants to a thoughtful criticism of how leaders and role models emerge within the black community. The recent debate over affirmative action gives renewed relevance to “From ‘Black Rage’ to ‘Bias Neutralizing,’ ” in which Graham discusses ways to achieve goals of affirmative action without real or imagined discrimination against whites. His clear, readable style lends strength to his arguments.