- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st Perennial Classics Ed edition (Sep 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060929782
- ISBN-13: 978-0060929787
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.5 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 607,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Book Description
Richard Wright's memoir of his childhood as a young black boy in the American south of the 1920s and 30s sold more than half a million copies on first publication and is considered a classic of the genre.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
At four years of age, Richard Wright set fire to his home; at five his father deserted the family; by six Richard was - temporarily - an alcoholic. Moved from home to home, from brick tenement to orphanage, he had had, by the age of twelve, only one year's formal education. It was in saloons, railroad yards and streets that he learned the facts about life under white subjection, about fear, hunger and hatred. Gradually he learned to play Jim Crow in order to survive in a world of white hostility, secretly satisfying his craving for books and knowledge until the time came when he could follow his dream of justice and opportunity in the north.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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First Sentence
One winter morning in the long-ago, four-year-old days of my life I found myself standing before a fireplace, warming my hands over a mound of glowing coals, listening to the wind whistle past the house outside. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
One winter morning in the long-ago, four-year-old days of my life I found myself standing before a fireplace, warming my hands over a mound of glowing coals, listening to the wind whistle past the house outside. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Evocative and thought-provoking read...,
This review is from: Black Boy: A Record of Youth and Childhood (Vintage classics) (Paperback)
Richard Wright's 'Black Boy' tells of Wright's childhood through to youth in early 1900s south America and his bitter struggle against abject poverty, the racial hatred of white people, a religion forced upon him that offered him neither solace nor faith and a family who didn't understand him. A powerful and raw autobiography that evokes every emotion from great sadness, fear and anger to love, compassion, trust and even humour. Tremendously well written - one of those books you'll find you won't be able to stop reading once you start - all the more moving for being a true and triumphant account of one boy's life.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eye Opening,
This review is from: Black Boy: A Record of Youth and Childhood (Vintage classics) (Paperback)
Where to start? I am a very selective reader and mainly choose autobiographies. I was recommended to this book by someone I greatly respect. They were spot on.
It is very easy for all of us to take for granted the life we have. Some of us do not know how tough life can be. Richard Wright made me sit up and take notice. I was taken aback by this book and felt compelled to let everyone know that it is a fantastic insight of how bad life can be. Not only that, it also shows the inner strength to fight and come through the darkness, a stronger and better person. I am not going to detail the stories within the book, I think it is for you to check it out. I was so impressed that I read it in just a day! It is witty, dark, thought provoking, sad and happy all rolled in to one. I promise you that you will not regret picking up this book, but will be disappointed when there are no more pages to read.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best autobiography I have ever read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Black Boy: American Hunger (Perennial classics) (Paperback)
Richard Wright's story of his life reads like a novel. Wright tells of the hardships he faced growing up in a racist society (South of the USA early 20th century). Although this is a very serious book, it has many humorous moments in it that lighten the mood. The work gives great insight into what it was like to be African American during the era Wright grew up in. This book is a must read.
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