Its climax comes at a race riot in Harlem, prompting the unnamed narrator to live in the sewers, where he writes the book.  
The opening chapter of this novel closes with the narrator dreaming that he and his father are at a circus where his father refuses to laugh at the clowns.  The narrator gets a scholarship after giving a speech to thunderous applause, despite the controversy over the words "social responsibility" and the blood he swallowed after Tatlock threw him blindfolded into a boxing ring with 9 other boys.  Its climax comes at a race riot in Harlem, prompting the unnamed narrator to live in the sewers, where he writes the book.  FTP, what is this 1952 novel, the best-known work by Ralph Ellison?
The opening chapter of this novel closes with the narrator dreaming that he and his father are at a circus where his father refuses to laugh at the clowns.  
Invisible Man