Wright's landmark novel follows Bigger Thomas, a young Black man hemmed in by poverty and segregation on Chicago's South Side, whose life spirals after he takes a job with a wealthy white family and a killing occurs. Through Bigger's fear, flight, and trial, the novel indicts the social conditions that produced him rather than treating him as a lone villain. It was the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection by an African American author and made Wright the most famous Black writer in America.
Author: Richard Wright ยท Original publisher: Harper & Brothers, New York, 1940
