The Street

by Ann Petry

Overview

THE STREET tells the poignant, often heartbreaking story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence, poverty, and racial dissonance of Harlem in the late 1940s. Originally published in 1946 and hailed by critics as a masterwork, The Street was Ann Petry's first novel, a beloved bestseller with more than a million copies in print. Its haunting tale still resonates today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780395901496
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/15/1998
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.09(d)
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Ann Petry (1908-1997), a black novelist, short story writer, and writer of books for young people, is one of America's most distinguished authors. Ann began by studying pharmacology, and in 1934, received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Connecticut College of Pharmacy. She worked as a registered pharmacist in Old Saybrook and in Lyme, and during these years wrote several short stories. When she married George David Petry in 1938, the course of her life changed. They lived in New York City, and Ann went to work for the Harlem Amsterdam News. By 1941, she was covering general news stories and editing the women's pages of the People's Voice in Harlem. Her first published story appeared in 1943 in the Crisis, a magazine published monthly by the NAACP. Subsequent to that, she began work on her first novel, The Street, which was published in 1946 and for which she received the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship. Mrs. Petry has written two more novels, The Country Place and The Narrows, and numerous short stories, articles and children's books. In addition, she was appointed visiting professor of English at the University of Hawaii (1944 - 45) and has lectured widely throughout the United States. Ann returned with her husband to Old Saybrook in 1947 and lived there until here death. They have one daughter.

What People are Saying About This

Coretta Scott King

"Forty-five years after it was first published, Anne Petri's The Street remains a powerful, uncompromising work of social criticism. To this day, few works of fiction have so clearly illuminated the devastating impact of racial injustice."

From the Publisher

"A major literary invention . . . A truly great book." The Los Angeles Times

"Overflows with the classic pity and terror of good imaginative writing." The New York Times

"A powerful, uncompromising work of social criticism. To this day, few works of fiction have so clearly illuminated the devastating impact of racial injustice."—Coretta Scott King

"A classic of American realism . . . The Street rushes toward its fatalistic climax like a train toward a washed-out bridge." Newsday

Gloria Naylor

"Forty-five years ago Anne Petri brought the world to its feet with the artistry in this painfully honest and wrenching novel. Once again a standing ovation is due for this American classic."

Editorial Reviews

"A major literary invention . . . A truly great book." The Los Angeles Times

"Overflows with the classic pity and terror of good imaginative writing." The New York Times

"A powerful, uncompromising work of social criticism. To this day, few works of fiction have so clearly illuminated the devastating impact of racial injustice."—Coretta Scott King

"A classic of American realism . . . The Street rushes toward its fatalistic climax like a train toward a washed-out bridge." Newsday

From the Publisher

Ann Petry's best-selling first novel, The Street, is the tragic story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her struggle to live decently and raise her son amidst the violence, poverty, desperation, and racial discord of Harlem in the late 1940s.

Lutie's marriage falls apart after she takes a job as a live-in nanny and maid in Connecticut, leaving her husband, Jim, and her son behind. When Lutie finds out that Jim "has taken up with another woman," she packs up her son and her things and moves out. She eventually ends up on 116th Street, signing the lease on the only apartment she can afford: three rooms in a building with narrow dark halls and prying, noisy neighbors.

Often compared to Richard Wright's Native Son for its stark despair, The Street was the first book by an African American female writer to sell over one million copies.

Sacred Fire

"One of the masterpieces of Black fiction...the fortunate republication of The Street will return this fine novelist to the critical ranks of major 20th-century writers." -- National Public Radio

Doris Grumbach