Product Description
Entwining two stories spanning past and present, cruelty and desire, Richard B. Wright weaves a memorable meditation on life and memory, love and death. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Time, Love, Memory
During a visit to London a chance encounter with a friend who he had not seen in sixty years, triggers a cascade of memories and ruminations in retired professor James Hillier. The friend, Gabriel, still cutting an impressive figure despite his age and being wheelchair bound, was easy to recognize. Gabriel is confronting questions of life's value and mortality and, having decided on a definite course of action, urges James to accompany him on a special journey. James, on a visit from Canada to spend time with his gravely ill daughter, has his own anxieties to deal with. Why should he embark on the trip with Gabriel? Why would Gabriel even consider him as a companion after all these years? The summer the two spent together in 1944 on the Quebec coast was far from being all fun and harmony and the friendship did not survive the strains. As he reflects on the invitation, his mind drifts back to that memorable holiday that also led to his budding emotional and sexual awakening.

Written in the first person, James' voice is personal and sincere. While recalling the details of that unforgettable summer, his romantic feelings for Odette, the girl next door, and his competing with Gabriel for her favours, he can now critically appraise his behaviour with the benefit of hindsight. Gabriel, although confined to his wheelchair as a result of a polio infection, was the centre of attention, flamboyant and self confident. James was more withdrawn and shy and resented to be called upon to serve the older friends whims. Feelings were fragile and Odette appeared to be the most mature among the friends. Through her story the reader is given a glimpse into the economic conditions of the time that separated the wealthy vacationers from the locals. "Spotting subs", one of the boys distractions, alludes to the war far away.

Pondering these recollections, James is pulled back into the present through concerns for his daughter. What will the doctors' verdict be? Father and daughter had always been close, in contrast to his relationship with his son, and her move to England not long ago had required major adjustments. Having lost his wife to cancer some years earlier, his daughter now might face the same fate, possibly leaving him bereft of the two most loved people in his life.

Wright writes in an calm and fluid style, drawing the reader into this gentle and tender story from the first page. His meditation on family, the end of childhood, friendships and the inevitability of death are personal as well as universal. Nothing is overwrought or heavy handed. His characters are vividly drawn and, in particular, the young people are utterly believable in their daily banter. The Gaspé coast and the small town of Percé provide a great setting and Wright's knowledge of and affection for this landscape is evident in his description. [Friederike Knabe] ... Read more

Product Description

A master chronicler of the African-American experience, Richard Wright brilliantly expanded his literary horizons with Pagan Spain, originally published in 1957. The Spain he visited in the mid-twentieth century was not the romantic locale of song and story, but a place of tragic beauty and dangerous contradictions. The portrait he offers is a blistering, powerful, yet scrupulously honest depiction of a land and people in turmoil, caught in the strangling dual grip of cruel dictatorship and what Wright saw as an undercurrent of primitive faith. An amalgam of expert travel reportage, dramatic monologue, and arresting sociological critique, Pagan Spain serves as a pointed and still-relevant commentary on the grave human dangers of oppression and governmental corruption.

Customer Reviews (4)

Powerful account of the Franco Spain of 1957 NOT of an eternal "Spain"
Richard Wright's account is powerful, thoughtful, well-observed, and intelligent, as always.But I have the sense from some of the other comments in here (presumably by readers who have not been to post-Franco Spain) that it's being read by some as an account of some kind of "eternal," unchanging Spanish essence.Please bear in mind that Wright visited at a time when Spanish per capita income was still lower (as late as 1957) than it had been in 1936, when the war broke out, and the conditions he observed reflected that post-war (anomalous) impoverishment AND the oppressions of a traditionalist authoritarian regime that was trying, and eventually failed, to turn back the clock.It was not a representative regime nor was 1957 a representative moment in Spanish history (even under Franco Wright would've found a very different Spain in 1970, for instance, after 10 years of an economic boom); Franco had had to fight a war (unlike Hitler or Mussolini) to take power, a war he might not have won had it not been for massive outside support (from Germany and Italy).And unlike post-war Britain, Germany, France, or Italy, Spain was given no Marshall Aid money to rebuild:it had to pick itself up on its own.The post-war Franco Spain Wright visited was not only a fundamentally different world from Spain today (where gay marriage and adoption is legal and half the cabinet--including the defense minister--is made up by women), the more important point to make is that it was a fundamentally different world from the Spain that had existed before (the whole liberal period from 1833 through the second republic of 1931-1936).Bear in mind that women's suffrage was granted in 1931 and that divorce had been legalized!And on the other hand, consider that every country--including the US today--has its traditionalist, "backward" persons, communities, and areas; the question to ask is how representative are they of the broader culture and what conditions enable reactionary elements of ANY society to get the upper hand politically.I would invite readers to consider the turn American politics have taken in the past 30 years (and contrast with Spain's), before assuming that cultures have eternal essences or that political and economic progress can't be reversed.

A different perspective
Spain fascinates me for some of the same reasons that intrigued Richard Wright when he wrote this book a few years before his untimely death. Wright ascertains that Spain is a contradiction,a holy nation that does ungodly acts, a superpower from the past trying to find its way in the modern world. Wright's main issue is exploring religion, namely Roman Catholism but along the way divulges his insights into a society plagued by it's past and present which at the time(1954)was still under Franco's influence. One of the more interesting aspects of this book is his discovery of a little book all young women must read and memorize. It turns out to be a sort of indoctrination to being "Spanish." Take an excerpt from Chapter 1, "Spain is a historical unit with a specific role to play in the world." This role is tied to religion and the conversion of all, by any means neccessary as exemplified with the conquest of the Americas; the gold and riches were just a by product of the divine nature of the conquest, a sort of earthly reward. Further on in the book destiny is defined as "all men in a common movement for salvation." In essence the belief is that Spain although no longer a superpower will be fundamental in the salvation of the world.Wright reads chapters of the book throughout his travels and shares them with the reader. Some of the Falangist concepts about Imperial Spain and how it pertains to the current state of affairs is amazing in it's ethnocentrism. The ideas from the Falangist book are worth reading this book for alone. Along his travels Wright sees the contradictions everywhere, racism, sexism and exploitation of women is rampant but sex sells, for it's price. So much for the high morality. One section is entitled " Sex , Flamenco and Prostitutuion" in which he explores this part of Spain that goes against the teachings of the church. Wright tries to live the life as regular people do and see it through their eyes. He buys a poor family a ticket to the bullfights and learns more lessons and observations on Spanish life. I found this book hard to put down and read it over a few brief settings while listening to Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" as interpreted by Miles Davis on "Sketches of Spain". The material is fascinating and makes you think about many things especially if you happen to have Spanish heritage in your veins somewhere. Highly insightful and worth reading for the perspective of an outsider. Recommended reading from high school to adult although it might offend some Catholics.

Refreshingly Honest
I'm a fan of Wright's but had not heard of this book. It's one of those you start reading and it just fascinates you so you can't put it down. Part travelogue, part social critique, this work of Wright's is refreshing because we see it through the eyes of someone who hasn't be educated or socialized out of believing what he sees. I've always felt that in some places Catholicism is practed in a cult-like way. Wright shows how much power the Church had and what the results were.

Valuable perspective from a visitor/outsider
This book had, says the introduction, been out of print for many years before being briefly republished several years ago. If anyone is able to purchase or obtain this work, they will find it an insightful view into a Spain still largely unknown by and officially protected from America and much of Europe. It was written in the mid-fifties after Wright had taken three journeys to that country. His argument is that Spain is still pagan: a primitive land untouched by the outside world for better or worse. On one hand, the Spanish practice an almost superstitious, certainly paternalist Catholicism which straightjackets women andsuspects the few Spaniards daring to practice Protestantism. More positively, Wright finds, Spaniards have no race consciousness derived from outside sources. Wright notes that though obviously of African background, he was not discriminated against in terms of accomodation, dining, or socializing. He talks with a varietyof Spaniards. Many question the Franco regime; are anticlerical and sceptical of Spanish values and history. Wright's descriptions of the often intimidating landscape, of bullfights and the celebration of Holy Week in Seville, are excellent. He maintains a basic criticism of the domination of the Church throughout.This brought adverse reaction when the work originally appeared,during an ultra-conservative era when religion was considered a bastion against communism. Wright 's sympathies for Spanish women, be they housewives, prospective brides or prostitutes, is farseeing. He understands the stereotypes women are subject to, especially in such a traditional society.Wright, an ex-communist, still had nostalgic feelings for the fledgling Spanish Republic. The Civil War is a subject only mentioned in confidence to him, so then recent was that struggle. For anyone wishing a broad-minded, well-written portrayal of a country that has fascinated many writers, "Pagan Spain" would be very worthwhile. ... Read more

Product Description
The Story of Bigger Thomas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

in- your- face portrayal
Native Son was on the "recommended" list for a grad class, so I was expecting something dense with vocabulary words and filled with symbolism, a sort of intellectual interpretation of gender and race.
What I got was an in-your-face portrayal of Bigger Thomas.The separate parts or "books" vividly convey Bigger's disenfranchised childhood, his "break" as a young adult, and the events that lead to his demise.I gasped and bemoaned Bigger's very movements or utterances dozens of times, wanting so badly to stop knowing this story but at the same time completely incapable of putting it down.You have to find a way to read this book.

what a story. what a shame.
My copy of this Richard Wright jewel came broken, ripped and old, mixed among several other literary treasures from a local stoop sale. Every time I turned a page, it would break from the ancient adhesive binding and almost turn to dust in my own dye-stained fingers. Was this a first edition paperback? No idea. The beginning pages were long lost and any other potential date displays were ripped or smeared. I was reading the future lining of my kitchen trash bin. How in the world could such wonderful gems as books have such cruel fates?

This entire book is about cruel fates. Broken up into three parts, Wright's "Native Son" tells the story of Bigger Thomas, an angry and foolish young black man from 1940's Chicago. He is powerfully built but weak-minded because he didn't have a proper education. He had big dreams of becoming an aviator but lack of opportunity forced him to live in a rat-infested room with his mother and two siblings. He just wanted to be left alone but his suffocating world would soon torture him with relentless attention. He was one of many young black men like this during the age of evil prejudice, withheld freedoms and spirit-breaking segregation.

The first "book" introduces us to Bigger and his dead end plan to rob a Jewish deli with his gang. The second "book" shows that he could have a chance for a better life if he could make better choices. When something finally goes his way - a job as a driver for an affluent white family, unforeseen events turn his good fortune into a deadly nightmare. That's when "book" three resolves all conflicts with a predictable, yet harrowing end. Packed with suspense, this gut-wrenching tale speaks to the modern world about a history we should never forget.

I feel that I should separate the sections of the book in order to properly review the piece. The beginning is your average low story of black hard-living during hard times. The middle is rough, startling and easily the strongest writing of all parts. I could not put it down. However, Wright loses me a bit during the denouement. It seemed like he had run out of story and while his words are powerful, they meander and repeat. The novel is already dialogue-heavy, but it goes a little overboard near the end.

It's a great, great book - just by no means perfect. It's sad to see this beaten thing go into the garbage can.

... Read more

Product Description

As the field of environmental science continues to evolve, this highly readable guide presents a full spectrum of views and information to help readers evaluate issues and make informed decisions.  Reflects the changing environmental scene worldwide, with a wide range of viewpoints and information from the latest sources. Places new emphasis on issues such as emerging diseases like avian flu; the 4^th World Water Forum; the “gene revolution;” the Endangered Species Act controversy; restoration of the Everglades, and the 2005 Global Forest Resources Assessment. Strives for a balance between pure science and the political, social, and historical perspectives of environmental affairs.  For those interested in learning more about environmental science.

Customer Reviews (22)

good value
This book was in great condition . I purchased it as a text book for my daughter and saved a bundle instead of purchasing it new. The condition was better than expected. The pages were like new with just a couple of frayed spots on the edge of the hard cover.

A++ for the shipper!!
I have to give KUDOS to the company that shipped this book to me within a couple of days.

Not only was the book in great condition (as described), but this was one of the fastest transactions I have experienced in all my years with Amazon.

This rating is based entirely on the service provided from your company (as it should be).The contents of the text is beyond your control since you did not write the book; only SUPPLIED IT.

A text book supplier should not be graded upon what the book's author has written...that is an overkilling of the messenger and has no relevance whatsoever.

With that said, I am sure we will do a lot more business and keep up the good work!!!

Many thanks!!

~ Flashdeziner

Belltowerbooks to be commended
I was 100% satisfied with my purchase. I thought the price was reasonable, and so was the delivery. The book was in great shape! I would definitely buy another book from Belltowerbooks.

fair enough
The book took a little longer than expected to arrive but within specified time. (over a week). The book had yellow highlites in it which I rather liked.

Great Product
Got exactly what I paid for and in a speedy manner. Wonderful transaction.... ... Read more

Product Description
12 Million Black Voices, first published in 1941, combinesWright’s prose with startling photographs selected by Edwin Rosskamfrom the Security Farm Administration files compiled during the GreatDepression. The photographs include works by such giants as WalkerEvans, Dorothea Lange, and Arthur Rothstein. From crowded, rundownfarm shacks to Harlem storefront churches, the photos depict the livesof black people in 1930s America—their misery and weariness underrural poverty, their spiritual strength, and their lives in northernghettos. Wright’s accompanying text eloquently narrates the story ofthese 90 pictures and delivers a powerful commentary on the originsand history of black oppression in this country. Also included are newprefaces by Douglas Brinkley, Noel Ignatiev, and Michael EricDyson. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Prophetic Voice
In Twelve Million Black Voices, Richard Wright, in a beautifully poetic prose, recounts the conditions African Americans endured when they migrated North during the early Twentieth Century. His love for his people and his hurt over their suffering comes through and helps readers understand what those times were like. In Twelve Million Black Voices, Wright expands on the themes of Black Boy but in a less personal way. The photos in the book, taken by some of America's foremost photographers, complement the writing, and illustrate the conditions under which African Americans lived.

Unfortunately, 21st century living conditions in America's inner cities too closely mirror what Wright describes in Twelve Million Black Voices. Perhaps when people read this book, they will be moved to change the conditions in which many children of color still live, or at the very least, understand the plight of inner city families and youth.

A Reveiw of History
I'm always impressed with writings by Richard Wright. This book took me on a written and pictorial journey in history of the plight of African Americans in this country. Wright did an excellent job of connecting the past with the present. What a wonderful history lesson!

A good Book to explore
A Good Book to explore the culture and history of the pain that they went through. The struggle which we don't see or realize. ... Read more

Product Description
Jennifer Jensen Wallach's biography-which we will publish on the fiftieth anniversary of his mysterious death-traces Wright from his obscure origins to international fame, from the cotton fields of Mississippi to his expatriate home of Paris. She highlights Wright's various attempts to answer the driving question of his life: How can I live freely? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting perspective about Richard Wright
An excellent, intriguing biography of Richard Wright, famous African-American author preceding the civil rights era. An amazing story of a man rising above his upbringing and the consequences that came with his driven quest to surpass the world he overcame. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Black Boy by Richard Wright
I purchase the boy for my fourteen granddaughter's summer reading assigment. I read the book a long time ago.Mr. Wright's experiences were customary for the South, where I live. My granddaughter's comments were very favorable. She read and wrote her review of the book in very short period time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Great re-Read!
I read it when it was first published. It was as real to me then, as it is today. I found so much reality in what Wright wrote back then, that I discovered, during this second read, that Charles Wright and I come from the same neck of the woods: and perhaps the train whistle he heard in Mississippi, was the one I heard when I was laboring there, as a three year old, on the Gaines Plantation in the deep Delta.

With America's first African American president finally settling in,to his own chilling realities; if you haven't read Native Son, read it and see if Charles Wright would expect any significant changes, for those left behind on the various plantations throughout America., under the new regime. Wright painted a dark picture of Chicago that yet lives today; the politics during his Native Son years are little different today. Slavery seems to have left Mississippi and followed us to Chicago. Nevertheless, one must have courage to confront the truth, whether its your own, or that of Richard Wrights'as depicted in this brilliant collection. If President Obama sends me another stimulus...like he keeps giving to the bankers and major corporate industry cheats, I'll buy copies of Wright's Early Works and send them to every US Senator, and Congressional Rep....in addition to the duly elected officials of the State of Illinois. Get the book. Discuss it with your family members. America may become a better place as a result of your discussions.

Fascinating, Stimulating, Brutally Honest Writing
The Library of America consistently produces wonderful volumes, and Richard Wright's "Early Works" is a strong member of the set. As I workedmy way through this volume, I found myself re-thinking questions I have putaside for a while, challenging attitudes that I have acquired as part ofour zeitgeist. I did not find that much of interest in "Lawd Today!" and"Uncle Tom's Children," the first two selections in the volume. Perhaps Iwill take another look at them in the future. However, "Native Son" was arevelation to me, and I found it amazing.

As a student of Mississippiliterature, as well as a native Mississippian, I am surprised that I hadnot read "Native Son" before. I wonder what response Wright might expect me(a white Mississippian) to have to his work. The answer is not as simple asone might think. Growing up in Mississippi, I worked as a dishwasher. I ranerrands for people who looked down on me and wanted me to act stupid andgrateful. I felt the harsh sting of minor capitalists zealously defendingtheir tiny empires. Like Wright, I grew up in a single-parent householdwith extremely limited resources. Like Wright, I never had a feeling that"the system" wanted to do anything but keep me in my place. Like Wright, Ilooked around to see that my people were limited by their ignorance andfear. For all of our differences, white and black Mississippians have farmore in common than most people want to admit. It is part of what makes ussuch a fertile field for literature.

The easy response for a whiteperson, Mississippian or not, is simply to be reactionary, to allow "NativeSon" to confirm easy stereotypes. In "How `Bigger' Was Born," Wrightacknowledges that one of the dangers he faced in writing "Native Son" wasthat those who are pre-disposed to see Bigger as typical of "those people"in general and of blacks in particular would find unequivocal confirmationof their prejudices. Wright must have been constantly tempted to avoidwriting with such brutal honesty.

However, it is this honesty that formsthe core of Wright's artistic achievement and makes his work enduring,almost prophetic. Bigger Thomas represents a type that still exists inplentitude. In "How `Bigger' Was Born,"Wright explicitly makes the pointthat Bigger represents a type that is both black and white, a persongrowing up in the land of plenty without prospects or hope, without enougheducation to replace instinct with rational calculation. Unable toparticipate and without a place, our Biggers simply want to blot outeverything and everyone from the face of the earth. Some of themunknowingly follow Bigger's example and kill what they think is killingthem.

I think I see Bigger every day on the black streets of Atlanta. Aclose relative of Bigger lives in the white trailer parks in our suburbs.Bigger acts every time a teenager commits a senseless murder, every time achild shoots up a school. I hear an analysis of Bigger when a demagoguepolitician says that we should just lock them up and throw away thekey.

The Biggers of the world are irretrievably lost. As Wright clearlyshows, there is no way to cure or save or even rehabilitate such people.Even at the hour of their death, they will not understand context, neverknow why they act as they do, always returning to the basest of emotionsfor self-justification. They continue to kill out of fear, and we continueto fear them.

People used to think that they knew how to prevent moreBiggers from appearing, how we might save those not yet lost. There washope that we could change things so that there would be no more Biggers. Itturns out that we have Biggers aplenty and more arising every day. Perhapswe always will. No one seems to care any more.

This volume affected megreatly, and I think that it will repay several close readings. It is adefinite keeper, well worth the price. ... Read more

Product Description
8.2"* 5.4". Native Son has 392 p. Black Boy has 285 p. ... Read more

Product Description
Complete guide for technical rescue from man-made confined spaces and industrial environments. covers all aspects of rescue operations. Topics include: team development, rigging and hauling techniques, and hazard reduction and compliance issues. Training manual and textbook. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good Technical Reference
As I instruct in the technical rescue field, this book is a great reference.Lots of information on ropes, mechanical advantage systems, rope rescue and litters.There is also a bunch of information on confined space rescue in particular, like ventilation and air supply.

Confined Space and structural rope Rescue by Micheal Roop
As a High Structure Rescue Traininer I see a lot of information on roped rescue.I found this book useful and concise with clear illustrations, I don't agree with ever aspect of the rigging, but the authors share the view that there is more than one system for rescue, as long as it is SAFE for everybody. Overall I found it a good book for developing peoples understanding for safe High Structure Rescues.

Excellent reference
While no book on technical rescue can subustitute for live training with competent intructors this book provides an excellent foundation. The author covers relevant OSHA and NFPA standards in a clear and concise fashion. The book thoroughly covers all aspects of industrial and confined space rescue operations with a strong emphasis on safety. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I love this book!
I love this book - It is full of gorgeous designs adapted from kimonos used as costumes for traditional Japanese theatre. There is a great variety of projects beyond cushions to complete and keep the avid needlepointer busy and intrigued (including a bed rest!) plus plenty of interesting background information for each design. Charts and instructions are detailed and accurate, and all projects have color photos

I love this book!
I love this book - It is full of gorgeous designs adapted from kimonos used as costumes for traditional Japanese theatre.There is a great variety of projects beyond cushions to complete and keep the avid needlepointer busy and intrigued (including a bed rest!) plus plenty of interesting background information for each design.Charts and instructions are detailed and accurate, and all projects have color photos ... Read more

Product Description

The hardcover publication of this work resulted in a landmark case, Ellen Wright v. Warner Books Inc. and Margaret Walker.The court ruled in favor of Walker and Warner Books Inc. in a precedent setting opinion.The court's decision, as well as the opinion of the presiding judges is included in this volume.

Customer Reviews (2)

Real Thoughts
This book was hard to keep up with at first I thought it was a biography on Richard Wright.After reading and really getting into the book I then realized that she had a right to speak and write of their relationship. Ifelt that the book was informative and helpful in understanding a differentside of Richard Wright. Everybody has more than one side to them.

With Friends Like These....
Richard Wright, author of NATIVE SON, BLACK BOY, and THE OUTSIDER, is a major American writer.He desrves a major biography.

RICHARD WRIGHT: DAEMONIC GENIUS by Margaret Walker is more like a major hatchet-job.

Dr.Walker is a noted author in her own right, with the bestseller JUBILEE toher credit.She was also friendly with Langston Hughes, Frank Yerby, andJames Baldwin.And she had a three-and-a-half year friendship with Wrighthimself, beginning in 1936.

Much of DAEMONIC GENIUS is based uponWalker's memories of that relationship.That the friendship ended badly(according to Walker, due to Wright) seems to be the central theme of thebook.It's also its central fault.

Walker spends pages and pagesdescribing her feelings over the break up.She then analyzes everyrelationship Wright ever had in the light of those feelings.Along theway, she sprinkles in biographical passages almost as an afterthought.Ifyour interest is in Walker's perspective on Wright's psyche and how itaffected his work, this might be fine.If you're interested in anobjective presentation of Wright's life and work, you will find Walker'spontifications downright annoying.It might even occur to you that Walkeris getting even with the man for some perceived wrong 30 years after hisdeath.

Such are Walker's feelings about Wright that she seemsinconsistent in her conclusions.The first few chapters of her book glossover Wright's upbringing by referring to BLACK BOY, implying that the 1945work covers those years authoritatively.Yet when she comes to discuss thebook itself, she describes it as, "not a book of purely factual andverifiable incidents."There are many such paradoxes in thenarrative.

Too, Walker details many unkind psycholgical insights aboutWright's widow, Ellen.Much has been made of the fact that Ellen tried toput a stop to Walker's book through court action, claiming violation ofcopyright.I personally think she could have made a better case forcharacter assassination.

In short, then, the definitive biography ofRichard Wright has yet to be written.And students of Wright wouldprobably be better off giving RICHARD WRIGHT: DAEMONIC GENIUS a pass. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Black Boy is incredible
I've only read the first part of Black Boy, the part dealing with Wright's life in the south, but it is so incredibly moving that I had to say something now before I proceed with the rest of this book and move on to the other Library of America book and possibly others by Wright.

I've read several other books, fiction and nonfiction about life in the south during Jim Crow times, but never anything so real and immediate and moving.i recommend this book without reservation.I would love to see a review here by a black man my ago or so (I'm 59) to hear his opinions or insights on this book, not to get the final word on black opinion but to be goaded deeper into the reality that this book reveals.Please read it.

Part II of an ESSENTIAL collection
Black Boy (American Hunger) serves as a the real life basis for the novels in the first volume of this collection.It relates Wright's experiences growing up in the south and gradually moving north, ultimately to Chicago.It's fascinating and completely believable and really points out the absurdities of racism and Jim Crow-ism, as well as the coldness of the northerners.The Outsider is a departure from much of Wright's other work.While about a black character, it is essentially a musing on the intellectual and physical power one has, and their ability to wield it undetected, as long as they fit into another's stereotypes.It is quite different and doesn't focus on cruelly racist treatment.It is one of the few times in which the protagonist is comfortable and confident in his surroundings.Black Boy (American Hunger) is one of the best autobiographies ever and The Outsider is a clever story with some brilliant twists on Wright's traditional and more well-known works. ... Read more

Product Description

Never before published, the final work of one of America's greatest writers

Customer Reviews (7)

It can't be the same Richard Wright.
Native Son and Black Boy gave me an insight into something I was not at all familier with, the lives of early 20th century black man. His writing left me teary eyed and heartbroken. Amazing stuff. A Father's Law can't possible be by the same Richard Wright. Reading it was like watching a UPL comedy with Reginald VelJohnson playing the father and Jaleel White as the son. It was kinda fantasy like. A black cop in the early 50's gets to be the police chief of a ritzy Chicago white sub burb. Sure. Happens all the time. I was actually embarrassed reading it.

Last Book
Richard Wright's last book wasn't very interesting in my opinion.I thought it was a change in style and a lack of suspense.The ending was very predictable since you knew who did the murders early on.In most of my reading of his works the main character was a victim but in this story he was no victim just crazy.It is too bad the author passed away before he could have added more to the book and refined the story.Maybe I expected Black Boy or another Native Son.

Reliable
My book was received on time as promised and was in good condition.Very pleased.

Wright's Time
I have always been a fan of Richard Wright. "Black Boy" was one of the first books that I ever read to completion in my early years, along with S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders", and then "Native Son" by Wright. Ponyboy and Bigger made great impressions on me as a rural Mississippi kid with hopes of living somewhere that would remotely resemble a world in motion.

I learned of "A Father's Law" through an online group. Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr. had written a review of the book before it was available to the general public. I placed my order before the book was available and anxiously waited for delivery.

I read this book slowly, because reading this book brought back memories and themes from his earlier works. Expelling them was not to be done. Instead, I weighed them against the lines and tones of the new work. The unfinished story shifted my perception of Mr. Wright away from the racial themes that predominated his other works. Mr. Wright was writing a story that seemed to be freeing him to go beyond doing the necessary work of using literature as a form of protest. He was using literature to create the type of books that made writers great because of how they wrote, and not what they wrote. "A Father's Law" shows progression. Once there was Bigger and now there is Police Chief Ruddy who has a troubled son, Tommy, that echoes the Bigger character-type but who also demonstrates the distance that we now see between generations. The effects of that distance within the story is seen in the actions taken by the son.

The plot of the unfinished novel is an unfinished reality we continue to ponder with, especially regarding youth and crime. Ruddy was able to rise out of the themes Wright presented to us in Native Son and other stories. However, he was successful in using Tommy to show us what we now know by experience and the evening news of the late eighties and nineties which had the young and old facing and moving in different directions.

The book is well done. His daughter, Julia, paid great tribute by completing this project and submitting the manuscript. It is a gift to us all. It ended at a very exciting point in the story. I would be certain to guess that the author was gearing to steer us to a dynamic conclusion. While reading, I thought I'd feel cheated with this being an unfinished novel. I was not cheated at all. Instead, I was left at a crossroad marvelling at the various paths that lay ahead.

Also, The story put me in the mind of Walter Mosely and his Easy Rawlins novels at times. With revisions that would only come with the work that time didn't allow, this book could have been a finished product that would serve as a pivot point in the career of a great writer. "A Father's Law" is a great celebration.

Ambivalent
I've been fascinated by Wright's work for some time (my Master's thesis is based on analyzing one of his most obscure and scathingly criticized works, THE OUTSIDER, as a work of tragedy rather than as the banal, existential work it is so commonly viewed and limited as being). I, too, was taken aback when I stumbled upon A FATHER'S LAW while on vacation in San Francisco and, immediately, I swiped the only copy off of the shelf. I put my vacation on vacation to read the book. I am still ambivalent about how to receive this work. I realize it is unfinished, and I am unsure was to how "unfinished" it is, but my proclivity for Wright's craft compels me to urge interested readers into reading this work with their expectations on their proverbial sleeve, because it truly gut-wrenching disappointment is not much toward the work's being unfinished, but moreover the author's mortal preclusion from refining his genius just one more time in full. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Age of Longing
Not a book to read on a rainy day.Well written, but I found the plot, extremely, bleak. ... Read more

Product Description
Richard Wright
(1908 -- 1960)

Of the numerous achievements that distinguish Richard Wright's place in the history of American literature, perhaps none is more important than the fact that he was the first African-American writer to sustain himself professionally from his writings alone. Primarily through the success of Native Sonand Black Boy, Wright was able to support, for two decades, a comfortable life for himself and his family in Paris. He also became, with the publication of Native Sonalone, the first internationally celebrated Black American author. If one had to identify the single most influential shaping force in modern Black literary history, one would probably have to point to Wright and the publication of Native Son,his first and most successful novel.

Customer Reviews (1)

This book was an exellent portrayal of Wright's work
When faced with a difficult term paper I turned to this book.It provided me with invaluable information to include in my paper.Wright's work, in my opinion, is some of the most senstional writing in modern times andneeds to be represented well.This book vividly describes his progressioninto authorhood and his works from there on in.I would recommend thisbook to anyone in search of the ultimate research resource. ... Read more

Product Description

A collection of Critical Essays reflecting both older andnewer perspectives. Will also contain an introduction by theeditor (a respected scholar in the field), a chronology ofthe author's life, and an annotated bibliography.

Customer Reviews (1)

Richard Wright's Novels brought toNew Light
The Essay's presented in Richard Wright : A Collection of Critical Essays (New Century Views)are a new and exciting twist to Wiright's novels. I have read both Native Son and Black Boy, and have pondered the maning of both, not realizing many crucial elements until I read this book. Although someof the books ideas are superficial, most of the essays are in-depth andstimulating. Definately a must-read book. ... Read more