American Writers (one Hundred Pages At A Time)

The finale of my review of BLACK BOY (AMERICAN HUNGER) by Richard Wright. This part of the memoir follows Wright's life in Chicago and his love affair and breakup with the American Communist Party.  Next, five episodes on THE OUTSIDER. 

Part 2 of my review of the memoir BLACK BOY by Richard Wright. This part of the novel explores Wright's discovery of the rules of Jim Crow, his quest for intellectual autonomy, and his ultimate decision to leave the South.

Part 1 of my review of A TIME FOR THE STARS by Robert A. Heinlein. This novel explores the twin paradox and humanity branching out into the cosmos.

In this episode I explore the first four chapters of Richard Wright's BLACK BOY, his gut wrenching and deep memoir of growing up black in the Jim Crow South.

Robert A. Heinlein's TUNNEL IN THE SKY has a strong and fascinating second half in which we explore questions of building democracy and civilization. The good: The optimism about cooperation in harsh conditions. The bad: strong hints of settler colonialism.

In this episode I look at the first half of Robert A. Heinlein's TUNNEL IN THE SKY. In this juvenile, Heinlein does some interesting thing with the old Malthusian over-population narrative. The first half reads a bit like a standard adventure story, though. This novel really shines in the second half. 

The finale of my look at Richard Wright's NATIVE SON.

In this third part of four exploring the powerful novel NATIVE SON by Richard Wright, we witness the capture of Bigger Thomas and the way the media presented a black defendant, ignored black victims, and jumped to racist assumptions, all the while trying to expose the Communist Party for its anti-racist work.

The conclusion to my review of the excellent novel, THE STAR BEAST, by Robert A. Heinlein. One of his best novels and high on the ranking of the juveniles. It explores issues such as gender, service, family heritage, and diplomacy.

In this episode I look at most of part two of Richard Wright's NATIVE SON, called "Flight". Here the narrative focuses on Bigger Thomas' efforts at survival after his murder of Mary Dalton, but also look more into the perspectives of mainstream white society on communists and African-Americans. 

THE STAR BEAST is one of the best books by Robert A. Heinlein that I explored in this podcast, and this suprised me from the look of the silly cover. Gender, diplomacy, politics, law, and bureaucracy are just some of the themes Heinlein crams into this little novel.

In this episode I take on the first 100 pages of NATIVE SON by Richard Wright. It is a brilliant novel and I can only scratch the surface, but it is required reading for understanding America. I focus on the major characters and their motivations, knowing we can only begin to understand Bigger Thomas in the early stages of the novel.

While "Project: Nightmare" (1953) is not one of Heinlein's strongest short stories it is worth reading for his use of the Cold War setting. The question of morality, sacrifice, and the use of misuse of the talented for the achievement of national goals is still worth reflecting on.

The conclusion to my thoughts on the wonderful short story collection, UNCLE TOM'S CHILDREN by Richard Wright. In the second half of this collection we move to a proposed (if maybe futile) response. The last two stories have moments of resistance culminating in sacrifice but not victory or a promise of change.

A very brief look at the short story "Sky-Lift" by Robert A. Heinlein. It is mostly a technical piece on the dangers of space flight and works as a sequel to the GREEN HILLS OF EARTH stories.

Richard Wright's first published book was a series of short stories called UNCLE TOM'S CHILDREN. They are wonderful stories looking at the brutality of race relations in Great Depression-era America and good preparation for NATIVE SON.

The conclusion to my look at STARMAN JONES by Robert A. Heinlein. This one clearly stands out among the Heinlein juveniles by branching out into new themes and new geographies.

The conclusion to my review of Richard Wright's first novel, LAWD TODAY. It is a great way to start digging into Richard Wright, and I think a good contrast with NATIVE SON, which we will look at in a few weeks.

In 1953, Heinlein wrote his 7th juvenile in STARMAN JONES. He always seems to have something new to say in each of these novels, even if the main characters are always a little bit cookie cutter. He does try to give this young man a bit more differentiation. Nevertheless, this is another good example of world building. I enjoy how each of these novels feels lived in.  

Today I start a new series looking at the major works of Richard Wright. We begin with LAWD TODAY!, which was published in the 1960s, but was actually the first book written. It is an amazing modernist text looking at the working class black life in Chicago during the Great Depression. It is also one of the bleakest books we have looked at in a while.