Books Like Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin | Suggesting Reading

Notes of a Native Son What Do I Read Next?

Native Son (1940) is Richard Wright's first published novel. The main character, Bigger Thomas, a young man living in Chicago during the 1930s, tries to rise above poverty and racism but becomes entrapped in a sequence of horrific events. It is a book about the effects of poverty and what it means to be black in America. Although Baldwin criticized Wright for his portrayal of such an angry character, most critics believe that this is Wright's most powerful work.

Collected Essays (1998) includes Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, and The Devil Finds Work. Many critics believe that Baldwin's writing was strongest when he wrote in the essay form. This book offers the full range of his nonfiction work.

W. E. B. Du Bois wrote essays almost fifty years before Baldwin was published. However, their...
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