Black Boy: (American Hunger) (Perennial Classics)

Media:	Paperback
Author:	Richard Wright
Publisher:	Perennial
Release date:	01 September, 1998
List price:	~~$13.95~~
Our price:	$11.16 that is 20% off!

Black Boy: (American Hunger) (Perennial Classics)

Average rating: Stars

Excellent Tale of Injustice and Coming of Age

Richard Wright (1908-1960) describes his southern upbringing in this superb autobiographical tale. Wright grew up in a fatherless home in Mississippi, where harsh Jim Crow segregation was the rule. As a young black man, Wright endured abuses by arrogant white co-workers and was even hit with a bottle for failing to call a white man "sir." Unhappy with the Jim Crow south, Wright left for Chicago where racial abuses were lesser, but poverty remained. In Chicago Wright joined with communists in an uneasy association that he eventually ended. This book makes for superb reading about youth and injustice, and displays Wright's stellar literary talent, although some see the book as fading a bit towards the end.

Black Boy: (American Hunger) (Perennial Classics) - Richard Wright

17 Year olds review of Black Boy (posted on wrong account)

Black Boy is the autobiography of the late Richard Wright. This book gives you a shining glimpse into one of the greatest writer's mind, and it is a book that you won't be quick to forget. Black Boy is not only an autobiography but a glimpse into racial, and social tensions and other problems in America

This autobiography explains what shaped this great writer. Wright had a troubled childhood filled with a hunger for the basic need of food, and the never dying desire to live a free life, away from the South. His life was outlined by a mentally and physically damaging family. Growing up in a highly religious family Richard Wright found no belief in God, and he was constantly viewed as a horrible devilish child by his family. After enduring a childhood filled with trouble he saved enough money to leace the south and travel to Chicago.

In Chicago, Richard Wright, during the Great Depression, joined the Communist Party. Joining the Communist Party helped shape many of his political and social beliefs. He was the president of the John Reed Club, a faction of the Communist Party, in Chicago until he was suspected for working with authorities, because he had been compiling interviews with fellow Communist. Afterwards he left the Party and began to write full time, a dream he had had since childhood.

Black Boy is an insightful look into what makes a great writer. It's a must read even if you've never read anything by Richard Wright. This book not only takes a look into his life but the lives of African Americans trying to work their way up.

Richard Wright - Black Boy: (American Hunger) (Perennial Classics)

Very good

Very good memoir of Richard Wright's childhood growing up black in the south. Book is divided into two sections, the first about young Wright in the South, and the second about his experiences as a young man in Chicago.

Some brilliant writing, and heart-wrenching sequences when Wright is a young boy, facing the racism of the South, and dealing with poverty. His love of books and writing is a fascinating journey to watch unfold.

For me, the second part, "American Hunger" was not on the same par as the first, "Southern Night." The focus here was largely on the Communist party, and not as enthralling for me. Although the revelations of the politics of black communists was interesting.

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