Black boy : (American hunger) : a record of childhood and youth Cover Image

Black boy : (American hunger) : a record of childhood and youth / Richard Wright ; foreword by John Edgar Wideman ; afterword by Malcolm Wright.

American hunger (other title)

Wright, Richard, 1908-1960 (author.). Wideman, John Edgar, (writer of foreword.). Wright, Malcolm, (writer of afterword.).

Summary:

The author grew up in the woods of Mississippi amid poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a "drunkard", hanging about in taverns. Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was surrounded on one side by whites who were either indifferent to him, pitying, or cruel, and on the other side by blacks who resented anyone trying to rise above the common law. This is the author's powerful account of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. It is an unashamed confession and a profound indictment, a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering.

Record details

ISBN: 9780062964137
ISBN: 0062964135
Physical Description: xvi, 425, 16 pages ; 21 cm
Edition: 75th anniversary edition.
Publisher: New York : HarperPerennial/Modern Classics, 2020.
Copyright: ©1945

Content descriptions

General Note:

"... originally published in 1945 by Harper & Brothers ... The text as restored by the Library of America was published in 1991 in a volume entitled Richard Wright: Later works that also included The Outsider" -- Title page verso.

"P.S. insights, interviews & more"--Page 4 of cover.