Eight Men: Short Stories [Paperback]

Richard Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 1996

"Wright's unrelenting bleak landscape was not merely that of the Deep South, or of Chicago, but that of the world, of the human heart," said James Baldwin, and here, in these powerful stories, Richard Wright takes readers into this landscape one again. Eight Men presents eight stories of black men living at violent odds with the white world around them. As they do in his classic novels, the themes here reflect Wright's views on racism and his fascination with what he called "the struggle of the individual in America."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"All eight men and all eight stories stand as beautifully, pitifully, terribly true. Some readers will be shocked by it for it presents straightforwardly a brilliant Black American's point of view. Many more readers will be uplifted and encouraged by it....All the way through this is fine, sound, good, honorable writing rich with insight and understanding, even when occasionally twisted by sorrow." -- --New York Times

. . . rich with insight and understanding . . . -- The New York Times Book Review

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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; First Edition edition (August 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060976810
• ISBN-13: 978-0060976811
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard T. Wright holds a Ph.D in biology from Harvard University and is professor emeritus of biology at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and is widely sought as a lecturer in biology and ecology.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work, May 22, 2003

By 

Burly Nerd "burlynerd" (Waynesboro, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Eight Men: Short Stories (Paperback)

Richard Wright is well known as the author of classic American books like "Native Son", but this was my first sample of his short story work. Eight Men is a collection of short stories about Black men in very different and unusual situations, but all of the stories involve their struggles in life.

"The Man Who Lived Underground" was the story that struck me the most. The elements of this story took a considerable amount of time to analyze back when I was a freshman in college. It is the story of Fred Daniels, a black man, wrongly accused of murder, who escapes to the sewer and there realizes the harsh realities of his existence. More happens in that sewer than you probably imagine. It is the longest of all of the stories.

"The Man of All Work" is the story that had the most humor in it. "Eight Men" is a collection of fairly sad stories that detail the oppressive conditions of Black men in the 1930's, and this short story joined with "The Big Black Good Man" as the only ones with noticeable humor to them. The resourcefulness of a Black man in a town where there were no jobs for Black men is the basis of this story.

Our book club found "Eight Men" to be very interesting on a number of levels. The discussion was lively, and everyone had contributions. The meeting ran past the scheduled time, and that is the highest praise that we can give to a book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Masterful Work, January 8, 2009

By 

C. Lester "get outta jail 4 free" (NYC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eight Men: Short Stories (P.S.) (Paperback)

Though this does not contain Mr. Wright's best short story, "Bright and Morning Star", it does reveal his brilliance in telling a tale and connecting to the Black experience. From his use of the vernacular to his adept reaching of the Black man's perception of the white worlds attitude's toward him, Mr. Wright's work brings a certain comfort in knowing that some one else has gone through what the reader has.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best, March 2, 2011

By 

K. Washington "So Cool!" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eight Men: Short Stories (P.S.) (Paperback)

Been looking or a story in this book since 1987, didn't know this book existed until not, perfect. The story is "the man who live under ground."