Arnold Rampersad discusses his new book, Ralph Ellison: A Biography. Georgia Center for the Book presents the acclaimed writer as part of the Decatur Arts Festival celebration.Ralph Waldo Ellison, the American writer born in 1914, achieved international fame with his first novel, Invisible Man (1952). He was influenced early by the myth of the frontier, viewing the United States as a land of "infinite possibilities." The close-knit black community in which he grew up supplied him with images of courage and endurance and an interest in music.