SOURCE: A review of The Living is Easy, in The Negro Novel in America, revised edition, Yale University Press, 1965, pp. 187-91.

In the following excerpt from his book The Contemporary Negro Novel, Bone emphasizes the biting satire of The Living Is Easy while pointing to some flaws in West's narrative structure.

The Living Is Easy (1948), by Dorothy West, is a bitingly ironic novel which deals with the ruthless success drive of the Negro middle class and its staggering toll in ruined personalities. Boston's “counterfeit Brahmins” are the objects of Miss West's satire, and she belabors them with an enthusiasm born of personal rebellion. Yet in presenting her indictment, she never subordinates psychological interest to social criticism. Such is her gift for characterization that even her minor figures come alive, while Cleo, the protagonist of the novel, is unforgettable. Manipulative, domineering, unscrupulous, and yet in her selfish way, loving...