THE STREET tells the poignant, often heartbreaking story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence, poverty, and racial dissonance of Harlem in the late 1940s. Originally published in 1946 and hailed by critics as a masterwork, The Street was Ann Petry's first novel, a beloved bestseller with more than a million copies in print. Its haunting tale still resonates today.
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"A major literary invention . . . A truly great book." The Los Angeles Times
"Overflows with the classic pity and terror of good imaginative writing." The New York Times
"A powerful, uncompromising work of social criticism. To this day, few works of fiction have so clearly illuminated the devastating impact of racial injustice." -- Coretta Scott King
"A classic of American realism . . . The Street rushes toward its fatalistic climax like a train toward a washed-out bridge." Newsday
"Overflows with the classic pity and terror of good imaginative writing." The New York Times
"A powerful, uncompromising work of social criticism. To this day, few works of fiction have so clearly illuminated the devastating impact of racial injustice." -- Coretta Scott King
"A classic of American realism . . . The Street rushes toward its fatalistic climax like a train toward a washed-out bridge." Newsday
About the Author
Ann Petry (1908-1997), a black novelist, short story writer, and writer of books for young people, is one of America's most distinguished authors. Ann began by studying pharmacology, and in 1934, received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Connecticut College of Pharmacy. She worked as a registered pharmacist in Old Saybrook and in Lyme, and during these years wrote several short stories. When she married George David Petry in 1938, the course of her life changed. They lived in New York City, and Ann went to work for the Harlem Amsterdam News. By 1941, she was covering general news stories and editing the women's pages of the People's Voice in Harlem. Her first published story appeared in 1943 in the Crisis, a magazine published monthly by the NAACP. Subsequent to that, she began work on her first novel, The Street, which was published in 1946 and for which she received the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship. Mrs. Petry has written two more novels, The Country Place and The Narrows, and numerous short stories, articles and children's books. In addition, she was appointed visiting professor of English at the University of Hawaii (1944 - 45) and has lectured widely throughout the United States. Ann returned with her husband to Old Saybrook in 1947 and lived there until here death. They have one daughter.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Overlooked classic...,
By LL (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Street: A Novel (Paperback)
I came across this book as a 1970 edition paperback, with a 'blaxploitation' looking woman dressed in colorful clothing c. 1970... It looked like a 1960s ghetto story... I was surprised to see the 1946 publishing date after I read a few chapters and found out that the story takes place in 1944...
Anyone who wonders about race relations, the 'ghetto', the plight of black men finding jobs and fitting into society should read this book; it lays it all plain, and the fact that it takes place in 1944 is all the more revealing in that the ghetto has probably been here all along since after slavery, as an extension of slavery... The book could very well have taken place in 1970, just with different vices and prices and popular music; the story would be the same... This book is truly haunting for anyone who wants to know what America is really like underneath; there is a color barrier, and a land of haves and have nots, and not enough decent jobs to go around... Also surprising is that this book was not already made into a movie, since it screams out cinematically... even with its rawest of subject matter, I could picture Halle Berry as the lead, a Morgan Freeman as Jones, Wesley Snipes as Boots, etc. It would be surely controversial, since a lot of its strongest lines and ideas are a bare condemnation of the America societal system, history, economy, and the creators of the 'United States' and the Euro-American cultural millieu... As an observer of American history and life, I have come to realize that the African American Black experience may in the end turn out to be the quinessential one, what with the old world slavery in the new world, the Civil War, jazz and blues forming the great part of America's truly original music, continued discrimination from much of 'mainstream' society in forms of integration... Ann Petry's THE STREET is one of America's great novels written by anyone of any color, but it really tells the whole truth, and nothing but, and all that no one wants to hear or admit... America still has many problems, and this book is certainly a reminder of that... Let it be read by all walks...
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed with the Reviewers,
By
This review is from: The Street: A Novel (Paperback)
I find it telling that everyone who has something bad to say about this book mentions that it is either depressing or about black or poor people. It makes me sad that people cannot appreciate an intricate and complex novel because it reminds them of things they don't want to think about. This novel deals with the complex and varied perspectives that exist within the smallest units of urban space, and the how our lives can be affected in powerful ways by the actions of people who are only peripheral to our daily existence. Since some people have a problem with reading sad or realistic books, I would say this one is for grown-ups of any age.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Killing Us Softly,
By Luche (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Street: A Novel (Paperback)
This is one of the best books that I have ever read. In a very simple, straight forward way, Ann Petrie takes us step by painful step through the life of an African American woman trying desperately to raise a healthy male child and to establish a better life for herself. What we see is that despite heroic determination, the system is structured to wear down and push against her very best efforts. Without preaching, the book takes us on a journey that helps us experience the dynamics of poverty and understand the thought processes of people trapped in it. This is a 'must read' book for anyone seeking to better understand the lives of those who can't seem to pull themselves out of poverty and it is a 'must read' book for policy makers, social workers and anyone working with people caught in the nexus of race and poverty. In addition, Ann Petrie is an excellent writer. She paints word pictures and maintains a breath-taking momentum from beginning to end.
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