About this item
Highlights
- Three extraordinary and impassioned nonfiction works by Richard Wright, one of America's premier literary giants of the twentieth century, together in one volume, with an introduction by Cornel West.
- Author(s): Richard Wright
- 864 Pages
- Social Science, Ethnic Studies
Description
About the Book
Includes three books originally published 1954-1957.Book Synopsis
Three extraordinary and impassioned nonfiction works by Richard Wright, one of America's premier literary giants of the twentieth century, together in one volume, with an introduction by Cornel West.
"The time is ripe to return to [Wright's] vision and voice in the face of our contemporary catastrophes and hearken to his relentless commitment to freedom and justice for all." -- Cornel West (from the Introduction)
Black Power: A Record of Reactions in a Land of Pathos is Richard Wright's chronicle of his trip to Africa's Gold Coast before it became the free nation of Ghana. It speaks eloquently of empowerment and possibility, freedom and hope, and resonates loudly to this day.
The Color Curtain: A Report on the Bandung Conference is a vital piece arguing for the removal of the color barrier and remains one of the key commentaries on the question of race in the modern era. "Truth-telling will perhaps always be unpopular and suspect, but in The Color Curtain . . . Wright did not hesitate to tell the truth as he saw it" (Amritjit Singh, Ohio University).
White Man, Listen! is a stirring assortment of Wright's essays on race, politics, and other social concerns close to his heart. It remains a work that "deserves to be read with utmost seriousness, for the attitude it expresses has an intrinsic importance in our times" (New York Times).
From the Back Cover
Originally published in 1954, Richard Wright′s Black Power is an extraordinary nonfiction work by one of America′s premier literary giants of the twentieth century. An impassioned chronicle of the author′s trip to Africa′s Gold Coast before it became the free nation of Ghana, it speaks eloquently of empowerment and possibility, and resonates loudly to this day. Also included in this omnibus edition are two nonfiction works Wright produced around the time of Black Power. White Man, Listen! is a stirring collection of his essays on race, politics, and other essential social concerns ("Deserves to be read with utmost seriousness"-New York Times). The Color Curtain is an indispensable work urging the removal of the color barrier. It remains one of the key commentaries on the question of race in the modern era. ("Truth-telling will perhaps always be unpopular and suspect, but in The Color Curtain, as in all his later nonfiction, Wright did not hesitate to tell the truth as he saw it."-Amritjit Singh, Ohio University)
Review Quotes
"Wright writes with emotional persuasiveness and power, relentlessly probing men, motives, myths, and history for a terrifying glimpse of a continent in turmoil." -- Newsday (on Black Power)
"Before it is too late, we would do well to read carefully and critically what Richard Wright has written." -- San Francisco Chronicle (on Black Power)
"The reader of 'Black Power' will be grateful, no doubt, for many fascinating, and even illuminating glimpses of primitive tribal life in a country marked out for precocious political development." -- New York Times (on Black Power)
"Intensely personal. . . . A wholly different portrait of Africa. . . . It must be accepted as an important if sometimes difficult contribution." -- Kirkus Reviews (on Black Power)
"As reporting [Black Power] is a first-class job and gives the best picture I've seen of an extraordinary situation." -- The Nation (on Black Power)
"A book that needs to be pondered." -- Kirkus Reviews (on The Color Curtain)
"A vivid and illuminating job of reportage." -- New York Times (on The Color Curtain)
"A brilliantly written, highly emotional record by a sensitive and gifted reporter. It conveys eloquently the excitement of Bandung, the exuberance of peoples newly conscious that they were masters in their own house." -- Christian Science Monitor (on The Color Curtain)
"Wright's most confessional account of the inner drama of decolonization." -- London Review of Books (on White Man, Listen!)
"Deserves to be read with utmost seriousness, for the attitude it expresses has an intrinsic importance in our times." -- New York Times (on White Man, Listen!)
"Wright has the insight of a novelist and poet, so he is not satisfied with the usual sort of comment on race relations. He wants to show the often uncomprehending white man what he has done to hundreds of millions of another color, and what he can do today to redeem the situation." -- Christian Science Monitor (on White Man, Listen!)
"Wright's trilogy of books about decolonisation was the great achievement of his last decade." -- London Review of Books