Sign-In
Cart
Black Boy
Paperback
Series: Harper Perennial Olive Editions
Biographies GeneralGeneral Racism & Ethnic Studies
Publisher Price: $12.00
ISBN13: 9780063458345
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: Sep 2 2025
Pages: 512
Weight: 0.66
Height: 1.65 Width: 4.49 Depth: 7.09
Language: English
Superb. . . . A great American writer speaks with his own voice about matters that still resonate at the center of our lives.--New York Times Book Review
Celebrating its eightieth anniversary, Richard Wright's eloquent autobiography about growing up in the Jim Crow South that gives unique voice to being Southern, black, and male in early 20th century America--now available as a special Harper Perennial Olive Edition.
When Black Boy exploded onto the literary scene in 1945, it was both praised and condemned. Orville Prescott of the New York Times wrote that if enough such books are written, if enough millions of people read them maybe, someday, in the fullness of time, there will be a greater understanding and a more true democracy. Yet from 1975 to 1978, Black Boy was banned in schools throughout the United States for obscenity and instigating hatred between the races, and continues to remain controversial, coming under the scrutiny of censors today who are banning an alarming number of books.
Wright's celebrated autobiography measures the raw brutality of the Jim Crow South against the sheer desperate will it took to survive it while Black. Enduring poverty, hunger, fear, abuse, and hatred while growing up in the woods of Mississippi, Wright lied, stole, and raged at those around him--whites indifferent, pitying, or cruel and blacks resentful of anyone trying to rise above their circumstances. Desperate for a different way of life, he made his way north, eventually arriving in Chicago, where he forged a new path and began his career as a writer. At the end of Black Boy, Wright sits poised with pencil in hand, determined to hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo. Eighty year later, his words continue to reverberate.
One of the great American memoirs, Wright's account is a poignant record of struggle and endurance--a pioneering literary work that still illuminates our own time.
Harper Perennial Olive Editions are exclusive small-format editions of some of our bestselling and celebrated titles, and feature unique hand-drawn cover illustrations. All Olive Editions are available for a limited time only.
Also from
Wright, Richard
Riddles and Brain Games for Teens: Games and Riddles That Will Sharpen Your Young Mind
Wright, Richard
Paperback
Hiram Grange and the Nymphs of Krakow: The Scandalous Misadventures of Hiram Grange (Book #5)
Wright, Richard
Evarts, Danny
Paperback
Duration, Endurance, Adventure, Herbs, Trees and Commodity Energy Conservation Education
Wright, Richard
Paperback
Riddles and Brain Games for Kids Winter Edition: Riddles and Games to Sharpen Young Minds (Ages 9 -12)
Wright, Richard
Paperback
Would You Rather Winter Edition: Clean, Silly and Downright Hilarious Brain Teasing Questions for All Ages
Wright, Richard
Paperback
Riddles and Brain Games for Kids (Ages 8 -10): Riddles and Games to Sharpen Young Minds
Wright, Richard
Paperback
The Charge of Sir Francis Bacon ... Touching Duells, Vpon an Information in the Star-Chamber Against Priest and Wright. with the Decree of the Star-Ch
Wright, Richard
Bacon, Francis
Priest, William
Hardcover
The Charge of Sir Francis Bacon ... Touching Duells, Vpon an Information in the Star-Chamber Against Priest and Wright. With the Decree of the Star-Ch
Priest, William
Wright, Richard
Bacon, Francis
Paperback
The Charge of Sir Francis Bacon ... Touching Duells, Vpon an Information in the Star-Chamber Against Priest and Wright. With the Decree of the Star-Ch
Priest, William
Wright, Richard
Bacon, Francis
Hardcover
Also in
Biographies General
Bluesland: Portraits of Thirteen Major American Blues Masters
Pete Welding (ED.)
Toby Byron (ED.)
Hardcover
Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902 1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna
Hacohen, Malachi Haim
Hardcover
The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 150 Bc0-400 AD
Freeman, Charles
Hardcover
Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky
Sackier, Shelley
Hardcover
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Isaacson, Walter
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s
Howe, Sean
Hardcover
Someday Mija, You'll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman: A Memoir
Martinez, Yvonne
Paperback
The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel
Williams, Olivia
Paperback
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich
Wittman, Robert K.
Kinney, David
Paperback
Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Womens Political Culture, 1830-1900
Sklar, Kathryn Kish
Paperback
The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII
Warnicke, Retha M.
Paperback
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Paperback
Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives
Cordingly, David
Paperback
The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Cherington, Gretchen
Paperback
Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man
Erdoes, Richard
Lame Deer, Chief Archie Fire
Paperback
My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love
Dessa Wander
Hardcover
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Giuffre, Virginia Roberts
Hardcover
How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
Lawson, Jenny
Hardcover
Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Kuehn, Christine
Hardcover
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
Dohrn, Zayd Ayers
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paperback
Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Colloff, Pamela
Hardcover
Homeschooled: A New York Times Bestselling Memoir and Read with Jenna Pick
Merrill Block, Stefan
Hardcover
Through Mom's Eyes: Simple Wisdom from Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans
Jones, Sheinelle
Hardcover