Summary

Book IV is called “Getting Carnivalized.” It begins with Bud receiving a letter from the little man. He told Bud that he had seen the Unicorn Woman at a carnival in New Orleans during Mardi Gras but mentioned that he suspected Bud might not wish to travel that far south.

Bud recalled going with his aunt Maggie as a child to buy materials for her to make doilies. She described the color she was looking for as “baptismal white” (137). When Bud asked why, she replied that “you don’t need a special name to distinguish one black from another. You always get the right black. It’s that white you got to watch out for; just don’t get it when it’s off” (139). A man walking past overheard Maggie and misunderstood her meaning. He replied, “I know what you mean, sister” (139) and Maggie...