The Man Who Lived Underground: A Novel

STEPH CURRY'S UNDERRRATED BOOK CLUB PICK FOR APRIL 2022

NAACP IMAGE AWARD FINALIST

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

ONE OF TIME'S 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2021

ONE OF OPRAH'S 15 FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021

ONE OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2021

A BOSTON GLOBE BEST BOOK OF 2021

A major literary event: an explosive, previously unpublished novel about race and police violence by the legendary author of Native Son and Black Boy

Fred Daniels, a Black man, is picked up by the police after a brutal double murder and tortured until he confesses to a crime he did not commit. After signing a confession, he escapes from custody and flees into the city's sewer system.

This is the devastating premise of this scorching novel, a masterpiece that Richard Wright was unable to publish in his lifetime. Written between his landmark books Native Son (1940) and Black Boy (1945), at the height of his creative powers, it would eventually see publication only in drastically condensed and truncated form in the posthumous collection Eight Men (1961).

Now, for the first time, by special arrangement with the author's estate, the full text of this incendiary novel about race and violence in America, the work that meant more to Wright than any other ("I have never written anything in my life that stemmed more from sheer inspiration"), is published in the form that he intended, complete with his companion essay, "Memories of My Grandmother." Malcolm Wright, the author's grandson, contributes an afterword.

Author: Richard Wright
Publisher: Library of America
Published: 04/20/2021
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781598536768


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/08/2021
Booklist 03/15/2021 pg. 30
Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2021

About the Author
Richard Wright (1908-1960) is one of the most influential African American writers of the last century. His major works include the story collection Uncle Tom's Children, the novel Native Son, and the autobiography Black Boy/American Hunger.

Malcolm Wright, Richard Wright's grandson, is a filmmaker and conservationist.