Books: Tract in Black & White

THE LONG DREAM (384 pp.)—Richard Wright—Doubleday ($3.95).

From his first (1938) book of long short stories to his latest novel, Richard Wright has given proof that anger can sometimes command more attention than art. He has one string to his bow: the shameful plight of the Negro in the white man's world. His writing is graceless, and he uses it with the subtlety of a lynching. It is doubtful for just how many of his fellow Negroes he speaks. But it is impossible to read him without sharing his indignation.

In his autobiographical Black Boy (TIME, March 5, 1945), Author Wright described how,...

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