The Man Who Lived Underground is a previously unpublished Novel by Richard Wright. It was his wish that someday the full text of this novel be published together with his companion essay, “Memories of My Grandmother,” that describes the process behind the novel. The premise of the story is that the narrator, Fred Daniels, a Black man falsely charged with murder, escapes from the police and descends down a manhole in the sewer where, for a time, he tunnels into assorted basements of America, so to speak. The novel is surreal and what Fred sees, from the perspective of the underground, serves as a device for commentary upon race, religion, materialism, guilt, and lies upon which the structure of America is based.
When Fred decides he must return aboveground, it turns out the police no longer want him for the murder, having caught the true murderer, but Fred’s attempt to share his new-f0und knowledge goes badly. As the police officer says, “You’ve got to shoot his kind. They would wreck things.” The novel is followed by the essay, in which Wright “I have never written anything in my life that stemmed more from sheer inspiration” and discusses the influence of Gertrude Stein. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/richard-wright/the-man-who-lived-underground/
