In 1960, August Wilson ended his formal education when he dropped out of high school after his teacher accused him of plagiarizing his paper on Napoleon. She implied it was too good for a black student to have written. Wilson retreated to Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library where, reading Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison, he was inspired. Years later, that inspiration moved him to write The Pittsburgh Cycle, a series of ten plays that capture the experience of being black in twentieth-century America. Setting the playwright in context to his personal life, social, historical and political events, other writers of influence, and more, you will quickly gain a deep understanding of August Wilson and the plays he wrote. Read A. Wilson in an Hour and experience his plays like never before. Know the playwright, love the play!