4.0
Daddy Was a Number Runner
ByPublisher Description
This modern classic is “a tough, tender, bitter novel of a black girl struggling towards womanhood” in 1930s Harlem—with a foreword by James Baldwin (Publishers Weekly).
Depression-era Harlem is home for twelve-year-old Francie Coffin and her family, and it’s both a place of refuge and the source of untold dangers for her and her poor, working class family. The beloved “daddy” of the title indeed becomes a number runner when he is unable to find legal work, and while one of Francie’s brothers dreams of becoming a chemist, the other is already in a gang. Francie is a dreamer, too, but there are risks in everything from going to the movies to walking down the block, and her pragmatism eventually outweighs her hope; “We was all poor and black and apt to stay that way, and that was that.”
First published in 1970, Daddy Was a Number Runner is one of the seminal novels of the black experience in America. The New York Times Book Review proclaimed it “a most important novel.”
Depression-era Harlem is home for twelve-year-old Francie Coffin and her family, and it’s both a place of refuge and the source of untold dangers for her and her poor, working class family. The beloved “daddy” of the title indeed becomes a number runner when he is unable to find legal work, and while one of Francie’s brothers dreams of becoming a chemist, the other is already in a gang. Francie is a dreamer, too, but there are risks in everything from going to the movies to walking down the block, and her pragmatism eventually outweighs her hope; “We was all poor and black and apt to stay that way, and that was that.”
First published in 1970, Daddy Was a Number Runner is one of the seminal novels of the black experience in America. The New York Times Book Review proclaimed it “a most important novel.”
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities31 Reviews
4.0
seraphicscripts
Created 14 days agoShare
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“I could write my dissertation on this book and the connection/perception of black people and poverty. I think Merriwether demonstrates perfectly the effects of poverty and inequality, living it and breathing it has after effects that people neglect to mention. Beautiful work and would recommend”AndreaK
Created 29 days agoShare
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Jaime 👽
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“I need more than 5 stars. From the first page, I knew I was going to love it. This book touched something deep inside me like The Bluest Eye and Crooklyn did. Black girlhood is so rich and complex. I’ll be thinking of this one for a long time.”Agata K.
Created 3 months agoShare
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“An interesting read about the life of a girl growing up in Harlem during the great depression. The constant racism, poverty and violence is hard to read about.”Heather B
Created 6 months agoShare
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“This was a good listen that helped give me insight into the life of a child during the Great Depression in Harlem. There were a lot of challenges for the family. The characters were likable and the story was interesting.”
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