The power of this book comes, in large part, from the fact that it is autobiographical. It is also eloquently written. While Douglass does describe his emotions in terms such as torment and despair, the general sense of the writing is factual and unadorned. The truth is that the facts don't need any hyperbole to have an emotional impact on the reader, and Douglass clearly understood this. As a reader from the UK, I probably don't have the same perspective as a US reader. I'm assuming that a US reader will be more familiar with the life and times Douglass describes and therefore, perhaps, the shocking nature of those life and times won't have the same impact on everyone. But I could well be wrong about that. Nonetheless, everyone should read this.