In recent years, a number of books by black authors have swiftly become permanent bestsellers in paperback. Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice, Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land and the Autobiography of Malcolm X have all sold more than a million copies. By contrast, Richard Wright's Native Son, America's first big bestselling black novel, has taken 20 years to reach the same level—almost 40% of that came within the past three years.
College black studies programs are creating a need for histories and source books. Black bookstores have sprouted in major cities across the country, including New York, Detroit, Chicago, Washington,...