Later Works: Black Boy (American Hunger), The Outsider

Wright, Richard; Arnold Rampersad (editor) wrote the Chronology & Notes for this volume

ISBN 10: 0940450674 / ISBN 13: 9780940450677

Edité par Library of America, New York, 1991

A propos de cet article

SUPERB: CLASSIC: NEW LOA hardcover First Edition (Orig. 1991) First Printing, NEW LOA jacket w/ sharp NEW edges & corners showing $35.00 pub price inside bottom-front corner, NEW maroon silk-finish Brillianta fabric-over-boards cover w/ sharp NEW edges & corners & titles & LOA colophon handsomely gold-stamped on spine, IMMACULATE smooth-cut text-block exterior, IMPECCABLE distinctive white-on-maroon LOA patterned card-stock end-papers, NEW Smyth-sewn binding w/ tight signatures & maroon-white-checked banding at spine-caps w/ maroon silk page-marking ribbon bound from the top, PRISTINE interior handsomely printed in clear 10-point Linotron Galliard on SUPERB unblemished acid-free Ecusta Nyallite archival paper * 5.0" x 8.12" x 1.22", 0.59 kg, 887 pp. Slipcase: 5.36 x 8.38" x 1.36", 0.70 kg * CONTENTS: Black Boy (American Hunger) (1), The Outsider(367); Chronology (843), Note on the Texts (868), Notes (875) * ABOUT THE BOOK: "Native Son" & "Black Boy" are classics of 20th-century American literature, & yet the novel & memoir known to millions of readers are in fact revised & abbreviated versions of the books Richard Wright wrote. The 2-volume LOA edition presents for the first time Wright?s major works in the form in which he intended them to be read. The authoritative new texts, based on Wright's original typescripts & proofs, reveal the full range & power of this achievement as an experimental stylist & as a fiery prophet of the tragic consequences of racism in American society. Wright's wrenching memoir "Black Boy", an eloquent account of his struggle to escape a life of poverty, ignorance & fear in his native South, was an immediate bestseller when it appeared in 1945. But Wright's complete autobiography, published for the first time in this volume as "Black Boy" ("American Hunger") is a far more complex & probing work. Its original 2nd section, in which Wright chronicled his encounter w/ racism in the North, his apprenticeship as a writer, & his disillusionment w/ the Communist Party, was cut at the insistence of book club editors & was only published posthumously as a separate work. Now that the 2 parts of Wright's autobiography are finally printed together, "Black Boy" ("American Hunger") appears as a new & different work: a unique contribution to the literature of self-discovery & a searing vision of racism in Northern slums as well as Southern shanties. Richard Wright's novel "The Outsider" (1953) appears here in a text that restores the many stylistic changes & long cuts made by his editors w/o his knowledge. This text, based on Wright's final, corrected typescript, casts new light on his development of the style he called "poetic realism". The "outsider" of Wright's story is Cross Damon, a black man who works in the Chicago post office. When Damon is mistakenly believed to have died in a subway accident, he seizes the opportunity to invent a new life for himself. In this, his most philosophical novel, Wright reconsiders the existentialist themes of man's freedom & responsibility as he traces Damon's doomed attempts to lead a free life. Richard Wright was "forged in injustice as a sword is forged", wrote Ernest Hemingway. W/ passionate honesty & courage, he confronted the terrible effects of prejudice & intolerance & created works that explore the deepest conflicts of the human heart. This volume includes notes on significant changes in Wright's texts & a detailed chronology of his life. * ABOUT THE EDITOR: Arnold Rampersad is Sara Hart Kimball Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University. He has written biographies of Langston Hughes (a Pulitzer Prize nominee), Jackie Robinson, &, most recently, Ralph Ellison. * THE LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an award-winning, nonprofit program dedicated to publishing America's best & most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts, restoring America's literary heritage in "the finest-looking, longest-lasting edition ever made." (New Republic).

N° de réf. du vendeur 010368

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Later Works: Black Boy (American Hunger), The Outsider
• Éditeur: Library of America, New York
• Date de parution: 1991
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0940450674
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780940450677
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: 1st Edition
• Impression: 1st Printing
• État de l'article: New
• État de la jaquette: New
• Poids: 0,7 kilogramme

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Native Son and Black Boy are classics of twentieth-century American literature—and yet the novel and memoir known to millions of readers are in fact revised and abbreviated versions of the books Richard Wright wrote. The two-volume Library of America edition presents for the first time Wright’s major works in the form in which he intended them to be read. The authoritative new texts, based on Wright’s original typescripts and proofs, reveal the full range and power of this achievement as an experimental stylist and as a fiery prophet of the tragic consequences of racism in American society.

Wright’s wrenching memoir Black Boy, an eloquent account of his struggle to escape a life of poverty, ignorance and fear in his native South, was an immediate bestseller when it appeared in 1945. But Wright’s complete autobiography, published for the first time in this volume as Black Boy (American Hunger), is a far more complex and probing work. Its original second section, in which Wright chronicled his encounter with racism in the North, his apprenticeship as a writer, and his disillusionment with the Communist Party, was cut at the insistence of book club editors and was only published posthumously as a separate work. Now that the two parts of Wright’s autobiography are finally printed together, Black Boy (American Hunger) appears as a new and different work—a unique contribution to the literature of self-discovery and a searing vision of racism in Northern slums as well as Southern shanties.

Richard Wright’s novel The Outsider (1953) appears here in a text that restores the many stylistic changes and long cuts made by his editors without his knowledge. This text, based on Wright’s final, corrected typescript, casts new light on his development of the style he called “poetic realism.” The “outsider” of Wright’s story is Cross Damon, a black man who works in the Chicago post office. When Damon is mistakenly believed to have died in a subway accident, he seizes the opportunity to invent a new life for himself. In this, his most philosophical novel, Wright reconsiders the existentialist themes of man’s freedom and responsibility as he traces Damon’s doomed attempts to lead a free life.

Richard Wright was “forged in injustice as a sword is forged,” wrote Ernest Hemingway. With passionate honesty and courage, he confronted the terrible effects of prejudice and intolerance and created works that explore the deepest conflicts of the human heart.

This volume includes notes on significant changes in Wright’s texts and a detailed chronology of his life.

LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

À propos de l?auteur

Richard Wright (1908-1960) is one of the most influential African American writers of the last century. His major works include the story collection Uncle Tom's Children, the novel Native Son, and the autobiography Black Boy.