1940: Native Son
Author/Editor: Richard Wright
This landmark work was the first novel written by an African American to be a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. It chronicles the life of Bigger Thomas, a black youth from the slums of Chicago, who accidently murders a white women and is condemned to death. In the process of telling Bigger’s story, Wright emphasizes the impact of racial injustice on his character’s development. Wright’s intention was to write a book that was “so hard and deep” that the reader “would have to face it without the consolation of tears.”
