For the first time in a deluxe boxed set the definitive edition of Richard Wrights landmark works in the form in which he intended them to be readHere in authoritative texts based on the authors original typescripts and proofs is the Library of Americas acclaimed edition of Richard Wrights major works Wrights first novel Lawd Today published posthumously inand here presented for the first time in its original form interweaves news bulletins songs exuberant wordplay and scenes of confrontation and celebration into a kaleidoscopic chronicle of the events of one day in the life of a black Chicago postal worker Uncle Toms Children first brought Wright to national attention The characters in these five stories struggle to survive the cruelty of racism in the South as Wright asks what quality of will must a Negro possess to live and die with dignity in a country that denied his humanity Wrights masterpiece Native Son exploded on the American literary scene inThe story of Bigger Thomas a