Supreme discomfort : the divided soul of Clarence Thomas / Kevin Merida and Michael A. Fletcher.

Courting venom : being Clarence Thomas -- The Pin Point myth -- The Savannah reality -- Myers, Leola, and Emma -- "Radical" times -- The making of a conservative -- Meteoric rise -- Who lied? -- The aftermath : Thomas's love affair with the right -- Cruel and unusual punishment -- Marshall's footprints -- Inside the court -- Silent justice -- Scalia's clone? -- The quiet, anonymous life -- Expectations.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [405]-407) and index.

Tracks the personal odyssey of perhaps the least understood man in Washington, from his poor childhood in Pin Point and Savannah, Georgia, to his educational experiences in a Catholic seminary and Holy Cross, to his law school years at Yale during the Black Power era, to his rise within the Republican political establishment. It offers a window into a man who straddles two different worlds and is uneasy in both--and whose divided personality and conservative political philosophy will deeply influence American life for years to come. This book originated from a profile of Clarence Thomas that appeared in The Washington Post Magazine. In it, Merida and Fletcher, both Post staffers, both black, crafted a haunting portrait of an isolated and bitter man, savagely reviled by much of the black community yet not entirely comfortable in white society.--From publisher description.