“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 ofNative Son.” –Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape.Native Sontells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.

Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Richard Wright’s powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

This beautifully designed Harper Perennial Deluxe Edition–the restored text ofNative Sonestablished by the Library of America–also includes an essay by Wright titled,How Bigger was Born,along with notes on the text.

Richard Wright won international renown for his powerful and visceral depiction of the black experience. He stands today alongside such African-American luminaries as Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison, and two of his novels,Native SonandBlack Boy,are required reading in high schools and colleges across the nation. He died in 1960.

• Publisher:Harper Perennial Modern Classics (April 29, 2008)
• Language:English
• Paperback:544 pages
• ISBN-10:9780061148507
• ISBN-13:9780061148507
• Item Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Dimensions:5.5 x 1.36 x 8.25 inches