In case we have any confused Pink Floyd fans in the house, this isn't the Richard Wright you're looking for. Just go back to syncing up Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz, and we'll all be no worse for the wear.

Okay. If you're still here, we're assuming you're ready to talk about the real Richard Wright, author of "The Man Who Was Almost a Man."

Born in Mississippi in 1908, Richard Wright became one of the most prominent voices in the Harlem Renaissance, a legendary explosion of African-American literature and art in the 1920s and 30s. You've probably heard of his novels before: Black Boy and Native Son have long been regarded as American classics. Less known, however, is Wright's impressive work in short stories. "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" might be the best of these, its plot perhaps influenced by Wright's own exodus from rural Mississippi to urban Chicago as a young man.

The story follows Dave Saunders, a seventeen-year-old kid desperate to prove his manhood. After being teased, babied, and downright disrespected, our young hero decides that the only way he can make things right is by buying a gun. (Not the smartest move, as it turns out.) One dead mule, fifty dollars of debt, and an angry boss later, Dave is challenged to finally prove that he's a man once and for all.

And that's just scratching the surface, loyal Shmoopers. Although the story focuses on Dave's coming-of-age experience, we end up learning a lot about society at large. We learn about the importance of parenthood; we learn about the way that wealth and class can control our lives; we learn how the legacy of slavery continued to limit the potential of African-Americans decades after the institution ended.

That's a lot of stuff for such a short story—not that what we're complaining. Whether you're interested in personal truths, broad social critiques, or even just some good old-fashioned storytelling, you'll find it in "The Man Who Was Almost a Man."

Growing up is hard to do.

Sometimes your family and friends don't acknowledge your growth, treating you like you belong at the kiddie table. Sometimes you feel like it's just going to take forever to get some respect. And then, of course, there are those inevitable times when you simply screw things up. All of this happens to all of us.

The important thing isn't avoiding mistakes, however—it's embracing them. There's not a single adult out there who hasn't messed things up plenty of times, but the difference between those who are successful and those who aren't is that successful people learn from their mistakes. Or, that's one of the differences anyway.

If you can do this, you've already won half of the battle. If you still need a little extra push, however, then take a look at "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." As you watch Dave Saunders's coming-of-age experience get hairier than a Wookie-owned barbershop, you'll come to realize that there's always hope, no matter how unpleasant things get. And in Dave's case, you can bet your bottom dollar that things get unpleasant.