Richard Wright, Native Son (1940)
Among the first widely successful novels by an African American, Native Son boldly described a racist society that was unfamiliar to most Americans. As literary critic Irving Howe said in his 1963 essay “Black Boys and Native Sons,” “The day Native Son appeared, American culture was changed forever. No matter how much qualifying the book might later need, it made impossible a repetition of the old lies.”
Among the first widely successful novels by an African American, <em>Native Son</em> boldly described a racist society that was unfamiliar to most Americans. As literary critic Irving Howe said in his 1963 essay “Black Boys and Native Sons,” “The day <em>Native Son</em> appeared, American culture was changed forever. No matter how much qualifying the book might later need, it made impossible a repetition of the old lies.”