"Richard Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi amid poverty,

hunger, fear, and hatred.  He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a 'drunkard,' hanging about in taverns.  Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was surrounded on one side by whites who were either indifferent to him, pitying, or cruel, and on ther other by blacks who resented anyone trying to rise above the common lot.

"Black Boy is Richard Wright's powerful account of his journey

from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South.  It is at once an unashamed confession and a profound indictment - a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering."

Taken from the back cover of the HarperPerennial Modern Classics edition.