- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial US; Reprint edition (Aug 3 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060929782
- ISBN-13: 978-0060929787
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.5 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #490,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From AudioFile
Wright's unforgettable account of his upbringing in the Deep South is harrowing. It makes palpable the terror that existed in the everyday lives of Southern blacks in the early part of the century. In Wright's America, an inadvertent remark or gesture could ignite a spasm of life-changing violence. As spellbinding as Wright's narrative is, James's reading makes it even more vivid. His command of Southern and African-American dialects lends an authority that makes Wright's disturbing story as vital and contemporary as ever. And James's timing underscores the tension and suspense that are never far removed in Wright's powerful story. M.O. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Product Description
With an introduction by Jerry W. Ward, Jr.
Black Boy is a classic of American autobiography, a subtly crafted narrative of Richard Wright's journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. An enduring story of one young man's coming off age during a particular time and place, Black Boy remains a seminal text in our history about what it means to be a man, black, and Southern in America.
"Superb...The Library of America has insured that most of Wright's major texts are now available as he wanted them to be tread...Most important of all is the opportunity we now have to hear a great American writer speak with his own voice about matters that still resonate at the center of our lives."
--Alfred Kazin, New York Time Book Review"The publication of this new edition is not just an editorial innovation, it is a major event in American literary history."
--Andrew Delbanco, New Republic
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
One winter morning in the long-ago, four-year-old days of my life I found myself standing before a fireplace, warming my hands over a mound of glowing coals, listening to the wind whistle past the house outside. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
One winter morning in the long-ago, four-year-old days of my life I found myself standing before a fireplace, warming my hands over a mound of glowing coals, listening to the wind whistle past the house outside. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Black Boy by Richard Wright,
By AznCityBoy (In the heart of Brooklyn Ny USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Boy Classic Ed (Paperback)
Do you like reading about racism and suspense? If you are then Black Boy by Richard Wright is the book for you. Richard Wright describes his life as a Black Boy living in the Jim Crow South. He had to learn how to make a living and support himself after his father left him. His mother also became ill. Richard grew up with poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and lashed out in anger at those around him including his family. He had to killed and tortured animals when he was a six-year-old just to survive. He also drank at bars. He was surrounded on the one side by whites that were either very different on him. In the stories he explain that whites are cruel, while blacks resented anyone who tries to rise above them. I really didn't have any favorite parts because this book didn't seem very interesting, maybe because it has a lot of racism in the book or maybe I don't know the black culture. Towards at the end of the book, Richard and his family keep struggling moving to the North. They had a lot of obstacles moving North. But at the end they finally did it. If you want to know more about Black living in the South during the 1930s, I would recommend this book to you. Black Boy will make you mad, laugh, and make you think what it was like living in the South. But For me, this book wasn't the best book that I ever read.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wright Auto Bio,
By
This review is from: Black Boy Classic Ed (Paperback)
The first Wrift book I read was the impressive 'Native Son'. I found Black Boy and read it. It's easy to read and gives you a good insight in how black life in the south was in the 1920. Wright's life as for so many has not been easy: no father, a crippled mother, racism abound. But still he finds time to read books and he reads the classics. Especially Babbit was one of his favorites (and one of mine too). Via Memphis he goes to Chicago were he becomes a more famous writer and starts working/writing for the communist party where he has a lot of trouble as an independant thinker.This book gives a great insight into black life. REal events are interspersed with his thinking about race relations. It is also easy to read and won't take a long time to finish. Definitely worth reading!
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book to Remember,
By A Customer
This review is from: Black Boy Classic Ed (Paperback)
Black Boy, an autobiography written by Richard Wright, describes what many average African American children faced growing up in the Jim Crow South. Wright described the poverty that he, his friends and family lived through and the agony and dangers they had to face day-to-day. Wright also described the unfair treatment from white people that African Americans had to endure and ignore. He also described how white people treated African Americans as slaves. Wright wrote in excruciating detail bringing to the reader what life was truly like in the South and in the U.S. in the early 1900s. I enjoyed reading Black Boy since it gave me insight into how African Americans were really treated in the South. The book really showed me the crisis that America was in over racial segregation. Black Boy also described the despicable acts that white people committed on African Americans for pleasure and entertainment. Richard Wright's actions showed me how a person that is always put down can still strive to be the best. Wright never gave up and kept on dreaming about his goals in life. Wright's book really showed the determination that one can have. His actions in life influenced me to never give up and to keep on trying no matter what someone tells me to do. This was a great book and if one wants to understand what things were like for African Americans in the South in the 1900s, they should read it.
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