Daddy Was a Number Runner: A Novel
Dec 2002 · The Feminist Press at CUNY
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4 reviews
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240
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About this ebook
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."
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 sou...
Ratings and reviews
4 reviews
Sandy Beaches
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July 9, 2020
There was a time in my adolescent life, I would search high and low for books written by black people, or any good book I could find that captured my attention. Daddy Was a Number Runner was an all time favorite. Picked it up and couldnt put it down. I think it took me one and half days to finish it. Yep, back in 1970. Loved this book.
Karla Edwards
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February 9, 2015
Read this book when I was 14, and I loved it then and love it now!!! So Good!!!
2 people found this review helpful
About the author
Louise Meriwether has taught creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College.
Louise Meriwether has taught creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College.
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