Kevin saunders biography

Richard Wright 1940

Author Biography

Plot Summary

Characters

Themes

Style

Historical Context

Critical Overview

Criticism

Sources

Further Reading

In the mid-1930s Richard Wright drafted an early version of “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” as a chapter in a novel about the childhood and adolescence of a black boxer entitled Tarbaby‘s Dawn.

Wright never finished the novel, but in 1940 the story appeared in Harper’s Bazaar under the title “Almos’ a Man.”

In this period Wright was at the height of his powers, publishing his three major works, Uncle Tom’s Children, Native Son, and Black Boy between 1938 and 1945.

With Native Son he became the first African-American author to write a bestseller and gained an international reputation for his exploration of racial issues and bold, realistic style.

The final version of “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” was not published until 1960—the year of Wright’s death—in a collection of short stories enti