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Richard Wright had already won a Guggenheim Fellowship before he wrote Native Son, published in 1940. It received critical acclaim, appearing as a Book-of-the-Month selection, but perhaps most importantly, it had a profound impact on the racial perceptions of the times. Great Books: Native Son features dramatizations of scenes from the book, with narration provided by Donald Sutherland. Wright's circle of literary friends included Gertrude Stein, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre, and this program also offers commentary from a number of historians and critics.