Native Son

by Richard Wright

Overview

Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061148507
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/29/2008
Series:	Harper Perennial Deluxe Editions
Pages:	544
Sales rank:	256,486
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.36(d)
Lexile:	700L (what's this?)

About the Author

Richard Wright won international renown for his powerful and visceral depiction of the black experience. He stands today alongside such African-American luminaries as Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison, and two of his novels, Native Son and Black Boy, are required reading in high schools and colleges across the nation. He died in 1960.

Date of Birth:

September 4, 1908

Date of Death:

November 28, 1960

Place of Birth:

Near Natchez, Mississippi

Place of Death:

Paris, France

Education:

Smith-Robertson Junior High in Jackson, Mississippi (1925)

Editorial Reviews

“The Library of America has ensured that most of Wright’s major texts are now available as he wanted them to be read.” — Alfred Kazin, New York Times Book Review

“There have only been two books in my life that have made me cry: the first 50 pages of Jane Eyre and the last 50 of Native Son.…Richard Wright’s masterpiece is in the school of protest novel…Native Son taught me that it’s all right to have passion within your work, that you don’t need to shy away from politics in order to write fiction.” — Gloria Naylor

“A novel of tremendous power and beauty.” — Newsweek

“The most powerful American novel to appear since The Grapes of Wrath. . . so overwhelming is its central drive, so gripping its mounting intensity.” — New Yorker

“It’s difficult to write temperately of a book which abounds in such excitement, in so profound an understanding of human frailty.” — New York Herald Tribune

“An enormously stirring novel. . . a story to trouble midnight and the noon’s repose and to haunt the imagination.” — New York Times

“For terror in narrative, utter and compelling, there are few pages in modern American literature that will compare with this story.” — Saturday Review

“A powerfully blunt novel.” — Washington Post

From the Publisher

The most powerful American novel to appear since The Grapes of Wrath. . . so overwhelming is its central drive, so gripping its mounting intensity.

New Yorker

A novel of tremendous power and beauty.

Newsweek

For terror in narrative, utter and compelling, there are few pages in modern American literature that will compare with this story.

Saturday Review

It’s difficult to write temperately of a book which abounds in such excitement, in so profound an understanding of human frailty.

New York Herald Tribune

There have only been two books in my life that have made me cry: the first 50 pages of Jane Eyre and the last 50 of Native Son.…Richard Wright’s masterpiece is in the school of protest novel…Native Son taught me that it’s all right to have passion within your work, that you don’t need to shy away from politics in order to write fiction.

Gloria Naylor

An enormously stirring novel. . . a story to trouble midnight and the noon’s repose and to haunt the imagination.

New York Times

A powerfully blunt novel.

Washington Post

The most powerful American novel to appear since The Grapes of Wrath. . . so overwhelming is its central drive, so gripping its mounting intensity.

New Yorker

A powerfully blunt novel.

Washington Post

A novel of tremendous power and beauty.

Newsweek