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Native Son
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Native Son Paperback - 2023

by Richard Wright

Widely acclaimed as one of the finest books ever written on race and class divisions in America, this powerful novel reflects the forces of poverty, injustice, and hopelessness that continue to shape society.


About this book

Richard Wright’s Native Son tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, a black American youth living in utter poverty in Chicago's South Side during the 1930s. When Bigger unintentionally murders a white woman, he is put on trial and eventually convicted, and sentenced to the electric chair. Often recognized as a protest novel, Native Son stresses systemic racial issues, prompting the reader to feel both sympathy and empathy for Bigger. In this, the novel is one of the earliest successful attempts to explain the racial divide in America in terms of the conditions imposed on African-Americans by the dominant white society.

Soon after publication, Native Son was selected by the Book of the Month Club as its first book by an African-American author. Indeed, the novel was an immediate best seller, selling 250,000 hardcover copies within three weeks of its publication. As a result of the novel’s success, Wright became the first bestselling and the wealthiest black writer of his time, establishing him as a spokesperson for African-American issues and, to many, the “father of Black American literature.” In 1941, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People awarded Wright awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal.

Unsurprisingly, Native Son was challenged in many public schools and libraries and is listed in the American Library Association's list of the “Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–1999.” Yet most institutions in which the novel was challenged successfully fought to keep Wright's work accessible, particularly in the classroom, defending it as a guide into the reality of the complex adult and social world.

 

Native son is listed as 20th on the Modern Library’s list of the “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. It is also included in TIME’s “100 Best Novels” (since 1923).

From the publisher

"If one had to identify the single most influential shaping force in modern Black literary history, one would probably have to point to Wright and the publication of Native Son." - Henry Louis Gates Jr.

"The most powerful American novel to appear since The Grapes of Wrath." --The New Yorker

When it was first published in 1940, Native Son established Richard Wright as a literary star. In the decades since, Wright's masterpiece--hailed by Newsweek as "a novel of tremendous power and beauty"--has become a revered classic that remains as timely and relevant today as when it first appeared.

Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Native Son is the story of Bigger Thomas, a young Black man caught in a downward spiral after killing a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Written with the distinctive rhythm of a modern crime story, this formidable work is both a condemnation of social injustice and an unsparing portrait of the Black experience in America, revealing the tragic effect of poverty, racism, and hopelessness on the human spirit. "I wrote Native Son to show what manner of men and women our 'society of the majority' breeds, and my aim was to depict a character in terms of thw living tissue and texture of daily consciousness," Wright explained.

This edition of Native Son--the restored text established by the Library of America--is the novel as Wright intended it to be published. It also includes an essay by Wright titled, How "Bigger" was Born, along with notes on the text.

First line

BRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNG! An alarm clock clanged in the dark and silent room.

From the rear cover

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.

First Edition Identification

Harper & Brothers first published Native Son in 1940. With a dark blue cover stamped in red and white, first editions state “First Edition” on the copyright page with "A - P" below the statement. The dust jacket of the first edition is green and yellow and states the original price of  $2.50.

Details

  • Title Native Son
  • Author Richard Wright
  • Series Perennial Classics
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: Repri
  • Pages 544
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Harper Perennial, New York, New York, U.S.A.
  • Date 2023-01-10
  • ISBN 9780060837563 / 006083756X
  • Weight 0.85 lbs (0.39 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.9 x 5.3 x 1 in (20.07 x 13.46 x 2.54 cm)
  • Reading level 700
  • Themes
    • Catalog Heading: Classics
    • Curriculum Strand: Language Arts/Literature
    • Ethnic Orientation: African American
  • Library of Congress subjects Trials (Murder), Psychological fiction
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 86045710
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

Citations

  • Black Issues Book Review, 09/01/2005, Page 61
  • Ingram Advance, 08/01/2005, Page 67
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Native Son (Perennial Classics)
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Native Son (Perennial Classics)

by Wright, Richard

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Native Son (Perennial Classics)

by Wright, Richard

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Native Son (Perennial Classics)
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Native Son (Perennial Classics)

by Wright, Richard

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Native Son (Perennial Classics)
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Native Son (Perennial Classics)

by Wright, Richard

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Native Son (Perennial Classics)

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Native Son (Perennial Classics)
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Native Son (Perennial Classics)

by Wright, Richard

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Native Son

Native Son

by Richard Wright

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Native Son

Native Son

by Richard Wright

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ISBN 13
9780060837563
ISBN 10
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HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. Paperback. Acceptable. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Native Son

Native Son

by Richard Wright

  • Used
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ISBN 13
9780060837563
ISBN 10
006083756X
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Native Son

Native Son

by Richard Wright

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780060837563
ISBN 10
006083756X
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£4.76
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Show Details

Description:
HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. Paperback. Good. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
£4.76
FREE shipping to USA