Native Son.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1940. Early Book Club edition. Publisher's slate blue cloth, in light brown illustrated dust jacket, top edge stain dark blue. Mild rubbing spine, light shelf wear and rubbing extremities, very good or better in very good, lightly edge worn dust jacket with some shallow chips and some nicking to spine, in mylar cover. Item #239091
A LANDMARK OF AMERICAN PROTEST LITERATURE
A very presentable first book club edition (A-P, January 1940) of Richard Wright’s Native Son––a searing indictment of American racial capitalism. Tracing the life and downfall of Bigger Thomas—a young Black man in 1930s Chicago, constrained by fear, rage, and structural violence—Wright confronts readers with a brutal rendering of systemic racism and refuses the solace of sentimental resolution. Initially subject to censorship, the novel was later restored to Wright’s fuller vision. Its success transformed Wright into a foundational figure in Black American literature and protest fiction, paving the way for James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, and others. Native Son remains a galvanizing text for readers, scholars, and institutions grappling with race, agency, and historical injustice.
Price: $175.00