Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas

“[An] impeccably researched and probing biography . . . invaluable for any understanding of the court’s most controversial figure.”—The New York Times Book Review

A sweeping, compelling portrait of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas and “an unflinching look at success and race in America” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), from two Washington Post journalists

There is no more powerful, detested, misunderstood African American in our public life than Clarence Thomas. Supreme Discomfort is a haunting account of an isolated and complex man, savagely reviled by much of the Black community, not yet entirely comfortable in white society, internally wounded by his passage from a broken family and rural poverty in Georgia to elite educational institutions and finally to the pinnacle of judicial power. His staunchly conservative positions on crime, abortion, and, especially, affirmative action have exposed him to charges of heartlessness and hypocrisy. 
 
Supreme Discomfort is a superbly researched and reported work that features testimony from friends and foes alike who have never spoken in public about Thomas before—including a candid conversation with his fellow justice and ideological ally, Antonin Scalia. It offers a long-overdue 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.