Black Boy (The Restored Text Established by The Library of America) (Perennial Classics)

by Richard Wright

Paperback, 1998

Status

Available

Call number

813.52

Publication

HarperCollins (1998), 448 pages

Description

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.

User reviews

LibraryThing member ShannonRose4
The only time I ever ended up in detention in High School was when I wanted to read this instead of attending a pep rally. It was worth it, I regret nothing.
LibraryThing member RoseCityReader
Richard Wright is famous for his novel, Native Son, which is a classic of American realism, made it to the Modern Library’s list of Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century, and was the first Book of the Month Club title by an African-American author. His autobiography – at least part of it – is an
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acclaimed account of life in the Jim Crow South.

Only the first part of Richard Wright’s autobiography, Black Boy, was published contemporaneously with his finishing it in 1945. The second part, American Hunger, was not published until 1977.

Understandably. The Black Boy section of his autobiography tells the story of Wright's childhood in the Deep South in the early part of the 1900s. Born on a plantation, abandoned by his father, and raised by a passel of relatives, his was as racist, poverty-stricken, and generally grim a childhood as could be imagined.

But American Hunger, the second part of his autobiography is all about Wright’s life as a Communist. Not a sympathetic, leftist intellectual of the 1930s, but a full-fledged, card-carrying Party member and true believer. No wonder he could not get this part of his story published in the 1950s. It would have been scandalous. Now, after the horrors of Stalin are known and the Soviet Union has disappeared, his story is historically notable, but borderline ludicrous.

What is worse is that Wright does not delve into the ideas that made him a Communist, which might have been interesting. He provides only one glowing summary of his fervent belief that Communism was the only solution for mankind, that the world would be in awe of the success of this system based on self-sacrifice, and that Europe would be unable to stand up to the military might of the Soviet Union. He offered this as an introduction to his description of the “glory” of the Soviet-style show trial of one of his Comrades.

The rest focuses on the in-fighting among Party members. Wrights whole point seems to prove that he was the better Communist than the hacks running the Party. He recounts the maneuverings among factions that led to his election as the Party Secretary of his division, detailed conversations with Party sub-officials questioning his loyalty, and his ultimate break with the Party – not over ideology, he insists, but tactics. All this is as tedious as listening to the office receptionist relate the details of her long-standing feud with the HR department.

The Black Boy section of Wright’s autobiography is a must-read. The American Hunger section belongs, like the bankrupt ideology that inspired it, in the dustbin of literary history.

Also posted on Rose City Reader.
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LibraryThing member eesti23
Black Boy is an autobiographical novel about the life of Richard Wright, a poor black child growing up in the American South in the early 1900's. Broken into two parts it, in great detail, outlines the struggles of poverty, fear, hatred and hunger, first in the South and then later when he moves to
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the North. Part two of the book, which also chronicles Richard's involvement with the Communist party, was originally cut from the book as a condition of being included in the Book-of-the-Month-Club.
Black Boy is an interesting read and well written however the more reflective tone that it takes in the second part can, at times, become tedious especially when thinking about how Richard, by allowing the second half of the book to be cut, did in fact what he frowns upon his fellow social class members and writers for doing. If at all possible it is worth viewing the coorespondence between the Book-of-the-Month, Dorothy Canfield Fisher and Richard Wright, which is based at Yale University (the Beinecke) as it gives a lot more insight into the reasons behind the situation and the pressure that Richard Wright was under in relation to his decision.
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LibraryThing member ps2hugh
Black Boy is a non-fiction novel about the life of Richard Wright's life. It tells about his life as a child in the South, and his adult life with the Communists in Chicago. There is a lot of action and things going on, but there is a lot of time explaining how he felt during this time, and with
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him not doing anything. I did like this book. It was written very well. I believed he conveyed his emotions well. The only thing is, this type of book, is not one of my favorites. Despite this, I still enjoyed it, and if you really like autobiographies, or black history books, then this is a must read.
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LibraryThing member sunshine3veryday
"Black Boy" is an aouto-biography written by Richard wright. It is about how he grew up in poverty without a father in the jim crow south. At one point in the novel ,Richard's mother had to put him and hiis brother in an orphanage, because she could no longer care for them. But he ran away first
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chance he got. His mother,his brother and he moved to Mississippi with his grandmothe
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LibraryThing member priscillaj
Despite it’s almost mind numbing cover, “Black Boy” is a thrilling and gripping novel about Richard Wright’s life journey. When I first saw the book, I thought it would be another history lesson about a black being discriminated against by whites. This was not the case. After the first
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chapter, the reader is hooked and bewildered when Richard sets his house on fire or when he hangs a cat because he is trying to be rebellious against his father. This is a must-read book for all adolescents because Wright goes through the trip of wanting to be accepted and striving to become more. He is struggling to find his way in life and become independent, as all teenagers are. This book provides insight into the mind of a man sorting out his life as well as providing a compelling read to people who go through the same problems.
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LibraryThing member ER93
Black Boy--A Must Read

I highly recommend reading Black Boy. It is a compelling story about the life of a black boy in the early 1900’s. You go through each of his hardships—poverty, abuse, hunger, and racism. With only limited education, he was self-taught, reading and disciplining himself to
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pursue what he wanted most, to write. His dream to become a writer becomes a life-long quest with many obstacles along the way. You follow him in each footstep of his life as he comes an inch closer to his goal. The best part of the story is that it is an autobiography and one can feel the power in Richard Wright’s words because it is his own struggles and his own accomplishments. This book has moved me, making me realize that to reach a goal there are many obstacles and challenges, but the power to persevere will help me achieve my dream. I encourage everyone to read it.
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LibraryThing member isabelfg
Unreal Reality

Drinking alcohol by age six, hanging a kitten and becoming a published author in a newspaper are just some of the many unbelievable events that happened in the life of author Richard Wright. When I first took a look at this book, I thought it would be another one of those typical
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novels about a boy overcoming all obstacles despite the color of his skin. Sure, this story was like that, but I felt it spoke to me differently. The way Richard Wright wrote his story made me feel like I was actually there. I loved that he kept you wanting to know more about what happens next. I also loved the fact that he made his characters so real like when his family was so mean to him, I got angry. However, I didn’t like the fact that the chapters were so long because sometimes it wouldn’t keep my attention. I also didn’t like the fact that the story went all over the place and that almost all the time, I’d be confused as to how old he was during a certain time. It was like he was eight and then twelve. Overall, though, the book was a great read.
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LibraryThing member BensonBurner24
The Tangerine Among the Oranges

Ever heard of the Civil Rights Movement? Well, you might be bored of hearing about it all the time. Well the book Block Boy, an autobiography, is the struggle of a black boy in American society years before the Civil Rights Movement. The book is a real page turner,
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especially for those who love books of violence. Richard Wright, the main character, faces violence between blacks and whites, violence within his family (Richard often finds himself as the punching bag for the family), and violence in reference to the two World Wars. If you’re a person who likes abnormal characters, then Richard Wright is the man you want to meet. I mean, who else would lynch a cat with a string on a doorknob?
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LibraryThing member EmilyAnne213
Black Boy is one of those books that is not for everyone. Although this was not the “Harry Potter” of its time, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about young Richard Wright. At a young age, he reminded me of a troubled Dennis the Menace. Learning about all his escapades from hanging a kitten to
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being an alcoholic six year old was quite satisfactory. It was about as satisfactory as drinking sour lemonade on a hot summer day.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy everything about the book. I found that having to read an author ramble on about every detail on their life is quite painful. It felt like I was slowly dying from boredom as I read. It is very difficult to go through every aspect of one’s life no matter how exciting it may be. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys troubled youth and everlasting details about someone else’s life.
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LibraryThing member DELITT
Incredibly vivid memoir. A great blend of humour and tragedy. Great descriptions of the sights and sounds of the era and fascinating insights into the effects of racism and self-education.
LibraryThing member KatherineLauren
Don't Forget a Tissue

Black Boy was one of those books that was impossible for me to put down. I would stay up until early in the morning just to find out what would happen in the life of Richard Wright. Although he overcomes many obstacles to get to where he was, the painful events that he had to
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endure were so heartbreaking that it made me want to cry. Growing up without a father for most of his childhood and an abusive mother, he not only struggles to get as much knowledge inside his head, but he is also learning to deal with the racism that becomes a part of his life.

This is one of those books where you cannot really connect many of the events that happened to him to everyday life. That is why I found this book to be very hard to put down. By reading something that you cannot connect to in real life, it makes the story more interesting and enjoyable to read. I loved this book because it gave me a glimpse as to what African Americans like Richard Wright went through during the 20th century and how much progress we as a nationhave made towards the equality of black people and white people. I would easily put this book on my top ten favorite books of all time list, and remember, don't forget to bring a tissue.
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LibraryThing member ShelbyNicole
Black Boy? Or White Boy?
In this book, the main character Richard Wright has a hard time fitting in with the other kids. Throughout this book there are descriptions of his life and hardships that he went through. Some of them include; starting his own house on fire, becoming an alcoholic at age 6,
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and getting a new job all the time. Also, in this book a lot of fights are explained. Richard usually found himself getting beaten a lot, he got beaten for doing the littlest things, he even got beaten at home. Overall I liked this book; it gave me a new view on how people of different races were treated back then. This was a real page turner; I’m very I got the chance to read it.
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LibraryThing member irish3431
I enjoyed reading Black Boy very much. Richard Wright does a great job portraying the stuggles of growing up black. Wright makes sure the reader can feel the hunger of the main character by going in detail of how he can't get food. I would recommend this book to anyone.
LibraryThing member Adeline22
Title: Only a Black Boy on the Outside

Richard Wright has been thriving for knowledge and for a place in the world ever since he was little. This book teaches you that skin color doesn't matter because with a little bit of determination and curiosity you can be who and what you want to be, and
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Richard proves that. I thought Black Boy was an easy and motivating read. I recommend reading it for its inspiration.
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LibraryThing member Jasonjargese
Stale Bread and Black Molasses

In the novel, Black Boy, Richard Wright begins with a shocking scene sure to grab the attention of many readers: he burns down his own home by throwing curtains into a fireplace. He is very concise with his writing and keeps the topic simple. In the beginning, he
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describes vividly his boyhood and his youth in Mississippi. He showed his interest in knowledge and reading ever since he was four years old. As time progressed, I noticed that Richard began to challenge authority more and more. He was becoming more sneaky and dangerous around whites, especially when he tricked his boss at the theater and took the money. It felt like the entire plot of the book was to move up north through a series of jobs. Although I have only read Part I of the novel, it is safe to say that these jobs drastically effected his decision to move.
One theme mentioned frequently in the novel is that of hunger. We’ve all been hungry before, but Wright describes it as terrible as it can get, up to the point where he is forced to commit a crime to get money. He lives off of a can of beans for dinner each night and the food as his jobs weren’t so great either. After a hard day’s work, Richard is given some stale bread and black molasses by his boss on the farm. Richard kindly and respectfully declines the offer and moves on to the next job. Hunger is a main theme in the novel and one that has played a permanent effect on Richard’s mind and behavior. This book is a very enjoyable read and I recommend it to teenagers as well as adults because of the insight and knowledge it provides once finished with the novel.
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LibraryThing member Smlee
Richard Wright’s writing style was rather unique compared to other authors. It was not a simple read nor was it an intricate one. I like the fact that it was a medium readable book. When he describes an event during the story, he uses a variety of words to explain what goes on in the book. The
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lengths of his sentences are not all long, but instead there is a mixture of short sentences and long one’s that are combined into a paragraph. I really enjoyed reading his descriptions because it felt as if you were actually right there with him while he goes through that moment.

I thought this book related to me in a way through some of the characters. In the beginning of the book, Richard’s brother reminded me of myself when he reminds Richard to behave while Granny is in the other room resting because of her illness. His character reminds me of my relationship with my brother on how at times I would remind him to behave and make the right choice of not causing trouble. I would be more like a conscience to him, constantly reminding him of what he is about to do, which is similar to his brothers character.

Richard’s mother also reminded me of my own mother. The way she sacrifices everything for her kids relates to my mom as well. My mother works hard and dedicates her time and effort to help my family out just like Richard’s mom did for her family.

This book was an enjoyable read because it felt like you were beside Richard every step of the way while he goes through these traumatic events. I would recommend this book to anyone.
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LibraryThing member MichaelAaron
A Marvelous Adventure of Hide and Seek

It was deafeningly bloodcurdling having to put myself through Richard’s conversations with the white men in Black Boy. Having to pick out his sentences word-for-word, I was anxious of the possible consequences that would come into effect if Richard had
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slipped on a single syllable during his conversation with Mr. Pease. I was enraged with fury in my mind with the shattering of such a bright, innocuous day when Richard had inadvertently forgotten to complete Mr. Pease’s surname in a sentence and had dismally retreated from his employment. Such tension between the blacks and whites will draw in any reader to the treacherous conflict in this novel. Richard’s struggle to control his speech leads to a feeling of a profound sympathy for his pitiful predicaments.

Richard’s curiosity for going against the strong current in life is something that any free-thinker can relate to. His grandmother consistently bogs him down with religion, which is portrayed as a metal cage, sucking him into the crowd of Christian believers and drawing him away from his desires. She yells about how he is going to burn up in hell after he reads Bluebeard and His Seven Wives, alleged to be “work of the Devil”. Richard has a strong grasp on what he believes is right. By sneaking slowly into the dimmer side of society, he starts reading about new ideas, such as the ones formed by H. L. Mencken: a man who colored everything he saw, heard, and did. A vivid transformation takes place: he finally feels the throbbing heartbeat of life and aspires to be more rebellious. Richard in Black Boy will surely appeal to the majority of youth, since this book wraps around the obscure phase of discovering who you are inside.
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LibraryThing member 2David7
Surpassing Barriers
The book Black Boy by Richard Wright is about a black child growing up, through his teenage years and becoming a man. It was the major themes that defined this book. A final major theme in Black Boy is the ‘coming of age’. This is one of the only themes of any hopeful nature
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within the novel. In the beginning, Wright is a terrified little boy hiding beneath a burning house, in a country that is entirely hostile towards blacks. At the end, Wright is a hard working, insightful man who is determined to work for a better future for himself and his nation.

Even so, the portrait Richard Wright paints of America is a truly bleak one. This book truly shows all the horrors of the social world in the 20’s. This book shows the dominant, oppressive culture of white America that aggressively places limits upon blacks. When Richard attempts to escape the South he finds a more fearful in the North; he escapes to Chicago only to encounter the same social barriers to success.

Overall this book is an amazing piece of literature that depicts life for black in the 20’s. The themes of the book outweigh any negatives. This book is like The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien; both books depict a bleak part of American history. So I would recommend this book to anyone that liked The Things They Carried.
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LibraryThing member wafflesnow
Black Boy
Black Boy by Richard Wright is the loneley ice cube in the boiling pot of autobiographys that sticks out. Richard Wright knew what he was doing when he wrote Black Boy and single handedly gave the whole experience of life in the south as a black boy growing up.
The premise of the book
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focuses around Richard Wright growing up and the types of challenges him and his family have to face. This book brilliantly establishes the relationships between whites and blacks int he south during the early 1900's. As we learn of Richard's experiences and journeys we also see the fine line of white and black in the south and the north.
Overall Black Boy is an excellent book to read out of the hundreds of equality books you have to choose from i would reccomend Black Boy as the foremost important and well written piece.
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LibraryThing member sylv23
Title: An Eye Opener.

This book was captivating compared to other books I have had to read in high school. Wright does not “sugar coat” anything in this book, he tells it how it is. He writes about his journey as an African American boy and his hardships. It is defiantly different from other
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racial-based books.
Recommended to read if you want a different perspective on racial issues. Overall, a interesting book to read.
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LibraryThing member vandev11
Richard Wright's autobiography spans from his upbringing in rural Mississippi to his involvement with the Communist party in urban Chicago.

Racism is a key element of Wright's work, as is the power of writing and literacy. Both provide excellent discussion points and help the reader understand the
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psyche of Richard Wright himself. This text is also excellent for practicing the skill of close reading, as it contains multiple passages loaded with rich, highly metaphorical language that can be dissected almost infinitely.
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LibraryThing member kjarcand
I thought this book was awful. I commend Wright for this detailed memoir of his life, and perhaps it was because I was forced to read this, but I just could not stay interested through the book. It took several attempts to read each chapter and fully appreciate the words. I still intend to read
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Native Son, though I worry I may have the same problem.
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LibraryThing member alienhard
Part I: Southern Nights blew me away. Mind blown. Inhaled it. Absolutely vital and incendiary writing. Everyone should read it, etc, etc.

Part II: The Horror and the Glory, which chronicles his experiences in Chicago with the local communist party, felt more a recounting of office politics. While
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interesting at times, a lot of it dragged. Still, I learned a lot reading it. It just wasn't the edge-of-seat material found in part I.

The story on how this book got published is quite interesting too. They cover this in the back of the book. They also include the alternate ending for part I, when that part alone was released as the original version of this novel in 1945.
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LibraryThing member likelectriceels
Black Boy is one of those books that you know you should like, but nothing within the book will allow you to do so. I read this book as a summer project for my english class in freshman year of high school. Thinking back on this book, I can remember many hours spent lying in the hammock finding the
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squirrels in the trees far more interesting than the diction of the book. The text was convoluted and very difficult to take in.

Not only was the book difficult to read, the subject matter wasn't particularly cheery either. One event in the book I can recall specifically is a scene in which the main character tortures a cat. The worst part of the project was that our teacher didn't even like the book. Overall, reading this book was just a terrible experience that I hope to never have ever again.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1945

Physical description

448 p.; 8.5 inches

ISBN

0060929782 / 9780060929787
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