Richard Wright: The Man Who Lived Underground

Afterword by Malcolm Wright

The book that entered the New York Times Best Sellers list 80 years after it was written

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“Might very well be Wright’s most brilliantly crafted, and ominously foretelling, book.”
— Kiese Laymon

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“The power and pain of Wright’s writing are evident in this wrenching novel. . . . Wright makes the impact of racist policing palpable as the story builds to a gut-punch ending, and the inclusion of his essay ‘Memories of My Grandmother’ illuminates his inspiration for the book. This nightmarish tale of racist terror resonates.” — Publishers Weekly

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 never-before-seen masterpiece by Richard Wright. Written between his landmark books Native Son (1940) and Black Boy (1945), at the height of his creative powers, it would see publication in Wright’s lifetime only in drastically condensed and truncated form, and ultimately be included in the posthumous short story collection Eight Men (1961). Now, for the first time, by special arrangement with the author’s estate, the full text of 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.

Richard Wright (1908–1960) is one of the most influential American writers of the last century. His major works include the novel Native Son, the memoir Black Boy (American Hunger), and the story collection Uncle Tom’s Children.

Malcolm Wright is a filmmaker and conservationist.

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Presented below as a downloadable PDF, the textual notes to The Man Who Lived Underground are intended to be used in conjunction with the “Note on the Texts” found at the back of the book.

LIBRARY OF AMERICA