The Walls of Jericho is the debut novel of author and physician Rudolph Fisher. The book, originally published in 1928, inspired Langston Hughes to title Fisher one of the wittiest authors of the Harlem Renaissance. Fisher is well known for his use of dry humor in literature, and accurately paints a picture of African American life during the Harlem Renaissance. In this novel, an African American lawyer, Ralph Merritt, buys a house in Harlem. However, the neighborhood is mostly white, and many do not accept him there.
Rudolph Fisher was born in 1897, and was an African American writer and physician. He is known for his dry sense of humor in literature, and played a key role in the Harlem Renaissance. Fisher believed in the idea of Pan-Africanism, or that African Americans should be more proud of their unique culturally blend of Africa and America.