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Manchild in the Promised Land Paperback – December 27, 2011

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 823 ratings

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With more than two million copies in print, Manchild in the Promised Land is one of the most remarkable autobiographies of our time—the definitive account of African-American youth in Harlem of the 1940s and 1950s, and a seminal work of modern literature.

Published during a literary era marked by the ascendance of black writers such as Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Alex Haley, this thinly fictionalized account of Claude Brown’s childhood as a hardened, streetwise criminal trying to survive the toughest streets of Harlem has been heralded as the definitive account of everyday life for the first generation of African Americans raised in the Northern ghettos of the 1940s and 1950s.

When the book was first published in 1965, it was praised for its realistic portrayal of Harlem—the children, young people, hardworking parents; the hustlers, drug dealers, prostitutes, and numbers runners; the police; the violence, sex, and humor.

The book continues to resonate generations later, not only because of its fierce and dignified anger, not only because the struggles of urban youth are as deeply felt today as they were in Brown’s time, but also because of its inspiring message. Now with an introduction by Nathan McCall, here is the story about the one who “made it,” the boy who kept landing on his feet and grew up to become a man.
"All the Little Raindrops: A Novel" by Mia Sheridan for $10.39
The chilling story of the abduction of two teenagers, their escape, and the dark secrets that, years later, bring them back to the scene of the crime. | Learn more

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Atlanta Journal" He writes about his life -- and Harlem -- with frank, brutal, and beautiful power. Mr. Brown's graphic narrative will make you laugh, cry, think, and possibly understand.

Daniel A. Poling Brown's Harlem is alive in a way that no black ghetto has heretofore been brought to life between book jackets.

Dick Schaap "Books" This is a magnificent book, not a good book, not an interesting book, a magnificent book....It is a guided tour of hell conducted by a man who broke out.

James Baldwin A tremendous achievement.

Nat Hentoff "Book Week" Sprung from the alley, a rare cat...As a survivor among the dying and the dead, Brown tells it like it was-and like it still is.

Norman Mailer The first thing I ever read which gave me an idea of what it would be like day by day if I'd grown up in Harlem.

Romulus Linney "The New York Times Book Review" It is written with brutal and unvarnished honesty in the plain talk of the people, in language that is fierce, uproarious, obscene and tender.

Tom Wolfe "Manchild in the Promised Land" is Claude Brown's unforgettable epic of growing up as a boy on the streets of Harlem. His Zola-esque gift for slices of life is made all the more striking by his brilliant insights into character and social pressures.

Tom Wolfe "New York Herald Tribune" Incredible! No Negro writer ever told the whole street thing in Harlem: Claude Brown is the first.

William Mathes "Los Angeles Times" Sometimes a unique voice speaks out so clearly and with so much passion that it comes to speak for an era, a generation, a people...and we have to listen.

About the Author

Claude Brown was born in New York City and grew up in Harlem. At age seventeen, after serving several terms in reform school, he left Harlem for Greenwich Village. He went on to receive a bachelor's degree from Howard University and attended law school. He also wrote a book called The Children of Ham in 1976. Manchild in the Promised Land evolved from an article he published in Dissent magazine during his first year at college. He died in 2002 at the age of 64.

Nathan McCall, author of
Makes Me Wanna Holler, has worked as a journalist for The Washington Post. Currently, he teaches in the African American Studies Department at Emory University and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner; Reprint edition (December 27, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 145163157X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1451631579
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 860L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.38 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 823 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
823 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and well-written. They appreciate its insightful portrayal of life and politics in Harlem during the 1950s. The story is told with great detail and a rhythmic style that transports readers to the setting.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

54 customers mention "Readability"54 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and a true classic. They describe it as one of the best books of the 20th century and a must-read for anyone interested in inner city life. The quality is even better than expected, and the delivery was top-notch.

"...This is one of the best books ever written on young-boy's street life...." Read more

"...It's a good book about ups and downs in the inner city." Read more

"Love the book" Read more

"...One of the best books of the 20th century." Read more

24 customers mention "Insight"24 positive0 negative

Customers find the book compelling and evocative. They appreciate its insight into life in Harlem in 1950, with an illuminating account of African-Americans in Harlem. The writing has a jazz-like rhythm.

"...Very detailing of the BLACK male experience in the 20th century." Read more

"...A facinating insight into the lifestyle and politics that dumped so many of our minority communities into a civil rights wasteland of tragedy,..." Read more

"...He paints a picture of his rugged coming of age with vivid recollections of how he gained his rep as a brawler, the friendships gained and lost due..." Read more

"...But it made a definite impact on me, to the point where I sought it out and re-read it...oh 40-45 years later...." Read more

12 customers mention "Story telling"12 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the engaging story. They find the narration and writing style evocative, bringing them into Harlem. The book is described as an easy read with a jazz-like rhythm. The language improves as the story progresses, keeping the storyline in memory.

"...Boy do I feel old. But it's a well written book for everyone to read." Read more

"...especially refreshing within this tragedy is that the author is content to tell the story without seeking to shakedown your pocketbook or heart...." Read more

"I love this book, it is epic and well written. No library is complete without it...." Read more

"...It says thinly fictionalized but I believe it is a true story. It's hard to believe children ran wild like that back then." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2011
    I first read Manchild in the Promise Land when I was sixteen. At fifty-six - I have finished reading the book for a second time. From a child's eyes this book showed me why one should never use drugs and I never did. From an adults view it taught me how to deal with a family member that is actually using drugs. This is one of the best books ever written on young-boy's street life. In and out of boys homes, poverty, seeing his best friends drugged, this book should be required reading for all young male and females. It even teaches readers the transverse of some males into homosexuality, and his acceptance of this shocking revelation in the black community is honestly portrayed.

    Just when it seemed that Sonny was headed towards the destructive path his friends were on, he pulled himself out, which is surprising because Sonny was the baddest kid in his community. I think mentors like group home professional, Papanek and his mother paved the way for Sonny to have optimism in life. It was sad to see that when Sonny got out of the boys home, he actually missed being there. Once home, he'd actually get on the "jail bus" to go back to the home, if for nothing else to have a conversation with his mentors.

    His young love relationship with a girl that ended up on Heroin was very touching to me. "Nodding" was not something Sonny wanted to see any of his friends or loved ones do and when he sees his brother Pimp nodding for the first time, that literally changed my life. This was and always will be the book that kept me from ever using or sampling drugs. Manchild in the Promised LandI even had an inkling to what street life was about. It's Claude Brown and Manchild in the Promise Land. Kudos to you my brother. May you rest in peace.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2024
    I bought this book for my son who read it when he was a pre-teen but asked for it again as a birthday gift to add it his personal library. Very detailing of the BLACK male experience in the 20th century.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2024
    I read this book when I was a kid, and bought for my grandson. It's a good book about ups and downs in the inner city.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2019
    U read this book many years ago and enjoyed reading it again
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2008
    Although this book was written in the 1960s, it is, still, very relevant today. This book was recommended to me back in 1983 or 1984 when I was in the military. I bought it with a number of other books. It took me twenty years to read it. I should have read it alot sooner; but, the rigors of life and the fact that a good many other books I bought kept pushing this one further back on the reading list. I grew up in the streets of NYC and saw his life being played out in a number of guys and gals I hung out with at that time. I didn't get caught up in the drug scene nor in the gangsta scene but, like the author, there was a lot going on outside the walls of the house to keep me outside nearly all day. Yeah this world was much newer for me then rather than now but I had to see what was going on within and without my neighborhood. As a parent looking at my kid, I know this world is new to them, which I can't shelter them from. As my kids look at me as their parent, they are constantly telling me to get out of their way. I want to see what is going out there. This only helps me to keep life real for them with a dose of non-reality here and there. Fortunately for Claude Brown, the street made him wise and through his book some of us can reminesce about those days and explain to others what urban life was like for us and how it made us what we are today. For others who have not experienced this urban lifestyle, take the book for what it is and re-evaluate your own experiences in hopes of passing on a reality check of your own life to your children.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2021
    This book use to be white I believe. 1st read this in high school. My teacher fought so hard for this book and I'm happy she did. She always tried to teach us about our real history and not the fake history in school text books. (This book maybe partially fictional)
    She said it's hard for people to want more for themselves if they can't see people like them doing was once great things. She would say you guys are seeking for greatness. She wanted us to see what potential we had. I want to thank her for that. I had always wanted more out of life bc of her.
    Now my son is the same age I was in high school. Boy do I feel old.
    But it's a well written book for everyone to read.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2005
    Manchild In The Promised Land is, unlike Tookie's diatribe, the real deal.

    A facinating insight into the lifestyle and politics that dumped so many of our minority communities into a civil rights wasteland of tragedy, economic strangulation, academic failure and political correctness.

    A classic that deserves to be on every young person's reading list. It is a message that has meaning in Beverly Hills and in the Bronx.

    The author is one of the very few who can write the story in the first person, but, with the enhanced vision of someone who has risen above the narrow confines of his neighborhood to experience the best of American education.

    What is especially refreshing within this tragedy is that the author is content to tell the story without seeking to shakedown your pocketbook or heart. The net effect is of course to create a much deeper sadness for those who experience the "inner city".

    For those on the inside it gives a glimpse of the exerience of someone who breaks free, but whose heart remains attached. For those who have never experienced streets where people avoid eye contact and yet are always alert for the next threat and the elderly and infirmed only venture out in the middle of the day this is the painful, tragic reality.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2024
    Love the book

Top reviews from other countries

  • calmnsense
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Greatest Memoirs of the Past Sixty Years!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2024
    I am not kidding. Reading this book as a 12-year-old kid in Oregon USA was life-changing. Any person wanting a glimpse of the Black urban experience in 1950s/60s America should pick this up. You won't be able to put it down.
  • Paul Warden
    5.0 out of 5 stars Now I Understand How Hard It Was For Black People In the USA
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 12, 2022
    An excellent insight into life in Harlem in the 50's. So well written, you could almost be there. I am a white English man aged 75.
  • B. Hughes
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2016
    Really interesting read. You can almost see the decline of Harlem thru Claude Brown's eyes
  • Dermott Hayes
    4.0 out of 5 stars Promises, promises
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 3, 2021
    First read this book in 1973 when I was a teenager hitching in the US. Found it again while browsing so decided to revisit. Surprised how well it stood up and chilled by how the Harlem heroin experience, described by Claude Brown as ‘the plague’, mirrored Dublin’s experience in the ‘80s and ‘90s. A little disjointed towards the end, it remains, nonetheless, a book anyone should read for an insight into the black urban experience in the ‘50s and the painful transition from rural southern poverty to urban northern poverty.
  • markdipsw
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2018
    A great read