Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin, Robert Bonazzi (Afterword), John Howard Griffin (Epilogue by)
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(Mass Market Paperback - 35th Anniversary Edition)
- Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
- Pub. Date: November 1996
- ISBN-13: 9780451192035
- Sales Rank: 4,546
- 208pp
- Edition Description: 35th Anniversary Edition
- Edition Number: 35
| More Formats | Online Price |
|---|---|
| Hardcover | $24.95 |
| Paperback - Reissue | $14.00 |
| Audio - Unabridged | $39.95 |
| Other Format | $15.30 |
| Compact Disc - Unabridged | $49.95 |
| Audiobook MP3 - Unabridged | $28.17 |
Synopsis
In the Deep South of the 1950s, journalist John Howard Griffin decided to cross the color line. Using medication that darkened his skin to deep brown, he exchanged his privileged life as a Southern white man for the disenfranchised world of an unemployed black man. His audacious, still chillingly relevant eyewitness history is a work about race and humanity-that in this new millennium still has something important to say to every American.
Author Biography: John Howard Griffin was born in 1920 in Dallas, Texas and was educated in France. He served in the U.S. Air Force in the South Pacific, where an injury sustained in a Japanese bombardment led to the loss of his sight for ten years. He is the author of two novels, Nuni and The Devil Rides Outside, as well as a biography of Thomas Merton and numerous other works of nonfiction. He died in 1980.
Annotation
He trudged southern streets searching for a place where he could eat or rest, looking vainly for a job other than menial labor, feeling the "hate stare." He was John Griffin, a white man who darkened the color of his skin and crossed the line into a country of hate, fear, and hopelessness--the country of the American Black man.
Publishers Weekly
Griffin's (The Devil Rides Outside) mid-century classic on race brilliantly withstands both the test of time and translation to audio format. Concerned by the lack of communication between the races and wondering what "adjustments and discriminations" he would face as a Negro in the Deep South, the late author, a journalist and self-described "specialist in race issues," left behind his privileged life as a Southern white man to step into the body of a stranger. In 1959, Griffin headed to New Orleans, darkened his skin and immersed himself in black society, then traveled to several states until he could no longer stand the racism, segregation and degrading living conditions. Griffin imparts the hopelessness and despair he felt while executing his social experiment, and professional narrator Childs renders this recounting even more immediate and emotional with his heartfelt delivery and skillful use of accents. The CD package includes an epilogue on social progress, written in 1976 by the author, making it suitable for both the classroom and for personal enlightenment. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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One of the most captivating accounts of the 20th century!by Kathryn_Orwell
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March 30, 2009: John Howard Griffin's captivating account Black Like Me has stunned millions over the past 50 years in ways that even the author himself could never have predicted. This jaw-dropping narrative chronicles Griffin's experiences as a black man in the Deep South during the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. The book itself began as a simple research project: put forth in order to see how the "other half", of sorts, lived. However, this simple but controversial study of the sociological elements of Southern culture transformed into one of the most argued books of all time. Though Griffin's testimonial is controversial, it still carries an air of blunt truth about it. This striking confession strikes a note with millions, and the millions more who will continue to read it will feel the same emotions as the many before them have.
Although Black Like Me's most obvious moral is racial tolerance, there are several underlying messages that are just as powerful. When Griffin is first transformed into a black man, he finds that, though he retains his original identity, Southern citizens still treat him differently. From this, we learn that people are the product of their upbringing, and that, at birth; people live in a condition of complete moral purity. However, as they observe their surroundings, the clarity of their persona is clouded, causing the unkind attitudes that result in racism. Also, while staying with a poor black family in the swamps of Mississippi, Griffin discovers the reality of the situation that the United States was trying so persistently to hide. He sees that much of the African American race has no hope of advancement, all due to the oppression forced upon them by the Caucasian sector of the populace. While staying with the family, he observes the beauty of their two children, and how successful they could become if only racism would cease to exist, if only they could escape the toils and troubles of the swamp. He then weeps for them, as he realizes that his own children are capable of doing anything that they set their minds to, just because they are white. This event brings about another important message: that the hate of others can only hurt, and never heal. When reading this account, I often sat down the book to digest what I was reading. During these brief pauses, I contemplated reasons why racism became so prominent in the South's lifestyle. Was it just remnants of the attitudes brought about by slavery, or just all of mankind's capable evils set out on display? I believe that, because the book caused me to question why, that the author fulfilled his purpose. Griffin's jaw-dropping account of the terrors of racism in the South brought about feelings of hatred for the evil of mankind in me that I never thought possible. Also, through reading this, I learned the importance of maintaining a state of kindness toward all men; black, white, Latino, Asian, or otherwise, and that the task of spreading awareness is a task for the community, not just for one person. Overall, I believe that this book is one of the finest and most raw pieces of literature that the English language has ever produced, and would openly recommend it to any person longing for a rebirth in culture.Black Like Meby Faybrick
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March 30, 2009: I found this book very enlightening and highly suggest it. It kept my in suspense and had a hard time putting it down. This book is well worth the read. Very provocative and touching. Great story!
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