The Messenger

by Charles Stevenson Wright

In The Messenger (1963), Wright draws extensively on his life. Realistically narrated in the first person by Charles Stevenson -- a light-skinned African American newcomer to Manhattan from small-town Missouri -- the novel dramatizes the isolation and alienation of those who fall prey to America's social, economic, and racial caste systems. Stevenson works as an office messenger and constantly finds himself on the edges of power, yet is utterly devoid of any. A man perceived as neither black nor white, “a minority within a minority,” he drifts through the naturalistic city of New York, where victory and defeat are accepted “with the same marvelous indifference.”

Genres: Fiction, African American, American, Classics, Race

217 pages

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Charles Stevenson Wright (1932–2008) published three passionately idiosyncratic, big-hearted, tragicomedic short novels about mid-20th Century African American existence. He was an innovator who broke with traditional fictional modes and helped negotiate a space for Ishmael Reed, Clarence Major, and other African American avantgardists.

Ismael Reed called his second book, The Wig, “one of the most underrated novels by a black person in this century.”

James Baldwin said: "Charles Wright is a terrific writer, and I hope he goes the distance and lives to be 110."

Reviews

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goddamn! This is what you want in a debut. Charles Wright makes a bow that doubles as a successful swing for the fences (not mixing baseball terms/metaphors there). Think of a better, less obvious, less reliant on the cheap tricks and easy shock of Last Exit to Brooklyn and you'll have an idea of what territory this inhabits. Same approximate geolocality, same rough time period...

But Black. And written by a bisexual man. So, you know, less tacitly violent toward the non-heteronormative comrades that constitute a community. Who'd a thunk it?

Call it The Only Exit to Harlem. An absolutely essential document of what used to, in practice, be called 'humanism.'

[Lee Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely the best autobiographical episodic short novel (133 pages) I've ever read by/about a 29-year-old African American messenger, bisexual whore, Korean War veteran, compassionate/attentive/righteous writer/intellectual. A great depiction of late-'50s NYC for lovers of books about life in a now-extinct sort of seedy/alluring Manhattan: "The pace, the variety, the anonymity, the sense of walking on glittering glass eggs, walking in a city like a big-time prostitute with her legs cocked open." Quick non-erotic/non-acrobatic sex scenes, more like needy transactions. He describes the eyes of an elegant older lady alone at a bar like this: "She had eyes like a half-closed rose." Funny. REAL. Existentially insightful (bright streaks of exposition re: race and class and life and death). Unpredictable. Things sort of fell apart for me as he tried to tie things together at the end. Regardless, definitely worth it for the first 100+ pages. A really talented writer who seems to have burned out early (ie, didn't "go the distance and live to be 110" per the James Baldwin blurb). His obiturary says he "vanished into alcoholism and despair." Looking forward to his other two books . . .

Also, real cool: click the Amazon link and read the review by the grown-up woman who was a little girl in the book: "I lived at 117 W 49th St., until 1963...I am Maxine."

(Note: this Charles Wright is not the famous Irish poet.)

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great queer novel, a great black novel and a great New York novel that should come back into print. One of my favorite quotes: ""Early Sunday morning has that subtle, quiet quality in New York. Lonely people everywhere know that time of morning"

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Why doesn't America let me die quietly? No. This country smiles on; the smile is a stationary sun. The sin is believing, hoping. But I am too tired, too afraid now to commit this sin."

A genuine, forgotten masterpiece. Worth the trouble of tracking down.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Wright's The Messenger is one of the most lonesome novels I've read; it gets at that bone-deep lonesomeness that even a roomful of likeable people can't cure. Wright's protagonist wanders New York, disaffected by the drugs, prostitution, and bisexual couplings he finds himself in, occasionally letting earlier memories of growing up Black down south filter through his consciousness. There's a chapter of him remembering his grandma that became almost too bittersweet to bear. Wright captures a tone and a perspective that should have us wedging him in with the great beat writers of the midcentury.

[Virgowriter (Brad Windhauser) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Sharp clean prose and an excellent eye for detail. Interesting bi protagonist, but unclear main story.

[Julie Mickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. If I could give this 6 or 7 stars I would. A short, little-known, semi-fictional and kind of stunning time capsule of Manhattan in the early 1960s. Not very plotty; it's made of vignettes that read like lightly fictionalized memoirs, moving and quite beautiful. The narrator is a 28-year-old bisexual light-skinned Black man who works a respectable messenger job but also hustles in the same spot Dee Dee Ramone would later immortalize, 53rd and 3rd, as well as by getting himself picked up as a hitchhiker. In addition to the 9-to-5 world and the seedy side of the island, our hero also ducks in and out of the downtown artsy scenes, drag scenes, drug scenes and hippie scenes. He has an unassuming manner that seems to draw to him people and their confidences. He lives in a semi-illegal Midtown studio apartment by the grace of an indulging super. In this building, numerous neighbors drop by, or are seen on the street, and find their way into the book. He also journeys back to his rural Missouri hometown to attend the dying and funeral of his beloved grandmother.

In The Messenger, the protagonist is a go-between who in each vignette finds himself going-between different and varied worlds and strata, but broadly speaking two main worlds: gritty (when it actually still was gritty) Manhattan and his remembered and actual rural Midwest, illuminating his divided consciousness and conscience, one foot in each world, ambivalent about both. I stumbled across this book by purely random chance in the general fiction shelves at the library and I'm so glad I did.

[Vampire Who Baked · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book that works from many different perspectives and contains many different voices in its beautifully layered, multifaceted narrative-- this is a great New York novel, a gritty autobiography, pithy queer fiction, but it works best as a revealing masterpiece of African American literature. What strikes you more is not what happens, but what does not happen-- despite the gritty background, he rarely ever speaks of his "troubles" and never devolves into self-pity. This is how the best memoirs work, not by differentiating the subject from the reader but by making the reader feel like this could have been their life-- the most remarkable insights in the book come from how natural and uncomplicated his storytelling is, as if this is how life works for everyone and how easily you can imagine yourself inhabiting his world. Then there's the timelessness-- the stories contained in each of the standalone chapters in the book span decades, all the way from the 50s through the 70s, but you would be forgiven for thinking that the book is set in present day New York. As is my wont, I will probably take a break before reading the rest of his novels, but I do look forward to reading them regardless.

[Hollis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this a lot! The vignette style was accessible, its structure added breath to what is a mostly dreary reading experience. Dreary, and yet, there's life here. I can't tell if Charles has given up or wants to get moving. He's trapped and though he has dreams to abandon the city, he doesn't REALLY want to leave - nor does he really want to give up, I don't think. The narrative voice reminded me a bit of Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, but I ultimately preferred this novel's perspective. Despite the obvious and important breaks between identity positions (and age), the novels are comparable due to the shared jaded personalities the main characters define themselves with. I'm looking forward to finishing with Wright's third and final novel. Also, I think I would've liked The Wig more if this book was read prior. Fortunately, they're all short so maybe a (re)read awaits in the future.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Challenge: Read a book with LGBTQ concerns

This is more of a 3.5 rating, and I hate that Charles Wright doesn't get more airtime. However, I'm not sure why I held my expectations so high for this book. To the point: for its intersectional elements, I was expecting more of an uplift. Wright has no affirmations to give--and why should he? This autobiographical novel comes before the Stonewall Riots and still in the heat of the Civil Rights movement.

To have expected more optimism from Wright was unfair on my part, and for this, the reading experience was underwhelming and less than positive.

As for Wright's literary merits--I can't think of a more apt writer to depict the moral and ethical decay of the 60s and early 70s. Where Kerouac leaned a little too heavily into optimistic dharma and where Baldwin nestled so nicely into navel gazing, Wright keeps it neat, the camera's lens spiking nicely on the truly racist, homophobic, and disorderly characteristics of his day.

I'm not likely to read it twice, though Wright's other novels are now on my radar.

[Gino Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what made me flag any of Charles Wright's works to read. I can't remember if it was some article that I had read or if I happened down a literary rabbit hole and his name came up. Nevertheless, The Messenger stayed on my list of books to read for a few years.

The story is not one with a plot. It read more like a character study of someone who was getting by in New York City. Yes, that tale has been penned countless times, but mostly with a finality rooted in despair. There was a cast of memorable characters and some laughable scenarios. Given that the narrator was the author, I imagine these were real events that he recounted with wit and humor, or the situations were inspired by a moment in his life.

Minus a defined plot with rising acton, climax, and denouement, it was a welcomed mental palate cleanser. I am now curious to read his other works.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5, rounded up because this book doesn't get enough love. (I'm reading the "Collected Novels" but will rate each book separately as I finish it.) This book knocked me out from the very first paragraph. The writing is electric and the wit pointed. It's very modern in some ways but also of its time. There isn't much of a plot - it's mostly about loneliness and keen observations. Not all the characters are fully realized and I couldn't remember which was which sometimes, but that is my only major complaint. I will definitely re-read at some point.

[Benjy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The vignettes themselves are lovely and forceful, even if they get bogged down in descriptions of glimpsed people and natural settings that don’t add much to the narrative. The characters are all really well drawn, vivid. But — and I recognize this is the point — little of story adds up to much or goes anywhere. Still, I think there’s a way to tell a story about aimlessness and being down without subjecting the reader to the same.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slight twist on the Missouri small town boy moving to the big city, this small town boy is a black bi-sexual prostitute in the late 60's/early 1970's. Great slice of life narrative supported by lyrical prose, humorous and pithy observations, and sharp descriptions.

[Aidan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why doesn't America let me die quietly? No. This country smiles on; the smile is a stationary sun. The sin is believing, hoping. But I am too tired, too afraid now to commit this sin.

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel was published the year I was born. It was followed by two other books about NYC. How have I only recently learned about it and its author? I blame myself and our vapid culture.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natural. Looks easy: isn’t. Ton of ache, you don’t see the strain. First novels don’t get much better than this.

[Giovanni García-Fenech · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly a novel, more like a string of unrelentingly dark vignettes. Beautifully written, though.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very brief but entertaining novel by Charles Wright. Dwight Garner the estimable reviewer of the Ny Times recommended Wright's work in a column about unsung books. The Messenger was written in 1963 and concerns Wright's experiences living in NYC among bohemians, hooker and junkies in NYC. I enjoyed this short novel which I read in one transcontinental flight from NYC to LA. This is probably not the best way to consume serious fiction but Wright's skills as a writer will make me read his two other short novels.

[Cecillia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Messenger is a first-person narrative, autobiography written by Charles Wright in 1963 in New York. The main character, Charlie, is an African-American, Korean-war veteran, bisexual whore who is a messenger for Wall Street brokers in New York. He is a gifted writer but does not get much from it so he makes his small means of living as a messenger. He struggles with being recognized as neither white nor black and finds himself being victim of the social, economic and racial classifications of America’s society. He is the minority within the minority.

Charles Wright uses immense descriptions throughout the book to let the readers envision exactly as he sees it. The first paragraph gets your mind seeing what he’s seeing. “Mama, with her ochre-lined face, gold-earrings, hip-swinging beaded money pouch, flowing silk skirts, is sitting on her throne, the top step.” Charlie sometimes confuses reality with fantasy and Wright portrays that well. Being a bisexual whore, Charlie has little connection to his partners that he encounters. Wright made sure the sex scenes seemed just that way; little connection, like “an experience, nothing more.” “Most of them went about their business silently, except for a few who whispered in tense voices, cooing of love. It was a grotesque scene with wild, quick body movements, groans, great murmuring sounds. No one had touched me.” The form of writing is very free and very real. Wright says exactly what comes to mind and doesn’t hold back. “He took first prize in the nose picking contest.” His straightforwardness brings out the personality of the book and it lets Charlie have more of a voice rather than appear to be the average unordinary guy.

There are 40 chapters in this 216 page, autobiographical short story. The structure of this book was somewhat choppy with chapters that were very short and very loosely related. Each chapter was a different memory or time in Charlie’s life. Very seldom did one chapter have anything to do with the next. This style sometimes threw me off balance with the story. I wasn’t sure what was happening because I’m used to the average way of writing where one event leads to the next and I see it happen. In this story Wright just pulls memories from his bank and writes. However, this helps show how much Charlie feels that he has no relation to the world. He has no connections to himself or anyone just as the chapters have no connections with preceding or following chapters.

The short, unrelated chapters usually are not something that I am interested in. It makes things somewhat confusing for me and normally I would have put the book down. However, the choppiness of the chapters made me feel what Charlie was feeling: unease, awkwardness at times, disconnection from everything. It definitely took some getting used to. Charles Wright’s genuine and real voice and point of view and his immaculate descriptions kept me going in this book.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad read, a little different that what I would thought, but it was ok.

[Justin Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. Very exciting