Richard Wright : Early Works : Lawd Today! / Uncle Tom's Children / Native Son (Library of America) [Hardcover]

Richard Wright (Author)

Book Description

Series: Library of America | Publication Date: October 1, 1991

Set in the American Deep South, each of the powerful novellas collected here concerns an aspect of the lives of black people in the postslavery era, exploring their resistance to white racism and oppression. Published in 1938, this was the first book from Wright, who would continue on to worldwide fame as the author of the novels Native Son and Black Boy.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Library of America has insured that most of Wright'smajor texts are now available as he wanted them tobe read." -- -- Alfred Kazin, New York Times Book Review

Collection of four novellas by Richard Wright, published in 1938. The collection, Wright's first published book, was awarded the 1938 Story magazine prize for the best book written by anyone involved in the WPA Federal Writers' Project. Set in the American Deep South, each novella concerns an aspect of the lives of black people and explores their resistance to white racism and oppression. The stories are "Big Boy Leaves Home," "Down by the Riverside," "Long Black Song," and "Fire and Cloud." Thematically and stylistically they form a consistent whole. In 1940 an enlarged edition of Uncle Tom's Children was published. Subtitled "Five Long Stories," it also contained a nonfiction essay, "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow," and a polemical short story, "Bright and Morning Star"; both additions were thought by critics to have damaged the literary integrity of the book. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 936 pages
• Publisher: Library of America; 1St Edition edition (October 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940450666
• ISBN-13: 978-0940450660
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,881 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

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars racism stripped naked, March 20, 2000

By 

T. Bekken (Austmarka Norway) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Uncle Tom's Children (Perennial Library) (Paperback)

Uncle Tom's Children is probably one of the most brutal books ever written on the topic of racism and racial oppression. The stories sneak their way into the far back of the reader's mind, and forces one to confront the racism latent within oneself. That is by no means a small feat for a book to accomplish, and it makes the reading both painful and powerful, sa well as infinitely rewarding. Personally, I don't recall ever having seen the ugliness of racism so brilliantly treated in any other work of literature, bar none. The addition of the autobiographical sketch and the extra story in some editions of this book is just a bonus, and does not decrease the value or importance of this masterpiece.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting Masterpiece of Social Exposure and Racial Injustice, January 12, 2007

By 

Juilan A. Dotson "stealph2" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Uncle Tom's Children (Perennial Classics) (Paperback)

If white people today have any doubts of the harsh treatment of blacks in the 1900's, read this book. As a matter of fact, read the first 20 pages.
I teach this book to my 10th grade English class and my kids love this book! It is an easy read because the stories are so gripping, and the dialogue is written in the southern vernacular of the time. The main reason why high school students need this book now is because not only are the black students losing sight of the past and appreciation for the efforts of black people, but the white students are unaware of the greatest crime in American History after slavery, Jim Crow Ethics. The Hispanic students, Asian students, African students, Indian students and countless other students from different parts of the world also need to read literature that enhances their knowledge of the brutal history of Americans.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful stories about injustice, March 6, 2006

By 

K.A.Goldberg (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uncle Tom's Children (Perennial Classics) (Paperback)

This 1938 collection of short stories by Richard Wright (1908-1960) was the first book the author had published. Wright had a remarkable talent for description, and he makes the reader feel as if alongside the main characters as the stories play out. These stories detail racial discrimination and oppression in the Deep South during the 1930's. I particularly liked his story about a flood that led to blacks being conscripted at gunpoint to work on the levee (and a tragic shooting that followed), plus his story about a planned hunger march that went against the wishes of the local (racist) government. Each story attacks southern racial injustice in a concise and powerful manner.

Two years after this book was published, Wright burst into fame with NATIVE SON, and he followed a few years later with BLACK BOY and THE OUTSIDER. This collection of short stories isn't Wright's best work, but it demonstrates the author's budding talent.