BRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNG! An alarm clock clanged in the dark and silent room.
An edition of Native Son
(1940)
Native Son
1st Perennial Library edition, reissued (1)
by Richard Wright
- 7 Ratings
- 156 Want to read
- 8 Currently reading
- 22 Have read
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Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. He was a "nigger" in a white man's world, and his crimes upset the whole of Chicago. He killed his first young victim in an unpremeditated moment of panic—and found himself caught up by forces outside his control and understanding. But at last he felt alive. He felt a sense of freedom and identity in his acts of violence that neither his woman, Bessie, with her whiskey, nor his mother, with her religion, had been able to give him.
Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is just as meaningful today as when it was written, both in its unsparing reflection of the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and in what it means to be black in America. An undisputed classic since it was first published in 1945. Native Son has sold close to three million copies.
--back cover
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Subjects
African American men, African americans, American fiction (fictional works by one author), Bildungsromans, Blacks, classic literature, Communism, Crime, Crime fiction, Criminals, Death row inmates, Drama, fiction, Long Now Manual for Civilization, Murder, Murderers, open_syllabus_project, psychological fiction, Reading Level-Grade 6, Reading Level-Grade 7, Reading Level-Grade 8, Reading Level-Grade 9, Reading Level-Grade 10, Reading Level-Grade 11, Reading Level-Grade 12, Trials (Murder), African americans, fiction, Thomas, bigger (fictitious character), fiction, Chicago (ill.), fiction, Illinois, fiction, Bigger Thomas (Fictitious character), African American men in literature, Trials (Murder) in literature, Murder in literature, American literature, History and criticism, Fiction, psychological, Crime, fiction, Criminals, fiction, Wright, richard, 1908-1960, Fiction, general, Literary collections, Thomas, bigger (fictitious character)People
Bigger Thomas, Vera Thomas, Mrs. Thomas, Henry Dalton, Gus, G.H., Jack Harding, Mary Dalton, Mrs. Dalton, Peggy, Jan Erlone, Bessie, Mr. Britten, Boris Max, Buddy Thomas, BuckleyTimes
1930sShowing 10 featured editions. View all 61 editions?
| Edition | Availability |
|---|---|
01
Native Son
2009, Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Paperback
in English
- Harper Perennial Modern Classics Reissue (16)
006083756X 9780060837563
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02
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03
Native Son
2000, Perennial Classics
Paperback
in English
- 1st Perennial Classics edition (8)
0060929804 9780060929800
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04
Native son
1998, Perennial Classics
in English
- 1st Perennial Classics ed.
0060929804 9780060929800
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05
Native Son: and How Bigger Was Born
1994, HarperPerennial
Paperback
in English
- 1st HarperPerennial edition (5)
0060812494 9780060812492
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06
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07
Native Son
1989, Perennial Library
Mass Market Paperback
in English
- 1st Perennial Library edition, reissued (1)
0060809779 9780060809775
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08
Un enfant du pays
January 14, 1988, Gallimard, Gallimard Education
Mass Market Paperback
in French
2070378551 9782070378555
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09
Native Son
1970?, Harper & Row
Mass Market Paperback
in English
- printing (27)
0060830557 9780060830557
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10
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Book Details
Edition Notes
"First Perennial Library edition published 1966. Reissued 1987 and 1989. Reprinted in HarperPerennial 1992"--T.p. verso.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 397-398)
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Work Description
Native Son (1940) is a novel written by the American author Richard Wright. It tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, a black youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago's South Side in the 1930s.
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| February 17, 2024 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
| December 19, 2023 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
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| December 25, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
| October 25, 2009 | Created by WorkBot | add works page |