Native Son
by Wright, Richard
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very Good/Fair Minus
- Seller
-
South Paris, Maine, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Harper & Brothers, 1940 1940 at the bottom of title page with B-P on copyright page, early printing. Gray cloth with gold gilt title on spine on black block. Dust jacket has several chips, closed tears, and edgewear. It shows a black man leaning on a brick building. No price on d.j. A great reading copy and very early printing of this classic book.
Synopsis
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).
Read More: Identifying first editions of Native Son
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Details
- Bookseller
- A.C.Daniels vintage and collectible books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 005110
- Title
- Native Son
- Author
- Wright, Richard
- Format/Binding
- Hard Cover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Fair Minus
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Harper & Brothers
- Date Published
- 1940
Terms of Sale
A.C.Daniels vintage and collectible books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
A.C.Daniels vintage and collectible books
Biblio member since 2021
South Paris, Maine
About A.C.Daniels vintage and collectible books
this is a home based book selling business selling exclusively online
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Copyright page
- The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Reading Copy
- Indicates a book that is perfectly serviceable for reading. It may have a defect or damage. As such, reading copy is not a...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
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