Synopses & Reviews
The time is summer, 1965. In Natchez, Mississippi, racial tension is running high, the Ku Klux Klan holds a community captive, and many local blacks--impoverished and apathetic--are resigned to a fate decided by Jim Crow. Based on the author's firsthand experiences as a voter registration driver in the South during the 1960s, "Long George Alley follows the lives of twenty-two blacks, whites, and idealistic young activists during two eventful days of racial strife. A primary goal of local civil rights workers is a march on Duncan Park, an oasis of lush green lawns, a swimming pool, and a golf course. Where whites relax and blacks are allowed only to drive through. Where the divisions of the Old South are as entrenched as ever. And where blacks and whites alike are about to search their souls to discover what they are willing to fight for. Strikingly evocative and brilliantly written, "Long George Alley makes a powerful statement about the glory, hate, and pain of racial struggle--a struggle that continues to tear at the fabric of America today.
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Ekwueme Michael Thelwell Author of The Harder They Come A fine novel...[of] political and cultural significance.
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James Baldwin This is a very beautiful book, painful and true.
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The New York Times, September 10, 1972 [A]n impressive debut.
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Publishers Weekly Compelling.
Synopsis
Long George Alley is written in twenty-two points of view. Set in Natchez, Mississippi, during the Summer of 1965, it covers two days in the lives of local blacks, whites, and the idealistic young civil rights workers who've come to town to organize black voters and integrate public facilities. But racial tension and Ku Klux Klan violence are running high. And many local blacks--impoverished and apathetic--are resigned to the traditional Jim Crow system of the old South. One goal of the civil rights workers is a march on Duncan Park, an oasis of lush green lawns, a swimming pool and golf course. Where Whites relax and Blacks are allowed to drive through. During the march on Duncan Park, blacks and whites alike are compelled to search their souls and stand up for what they believe in.Long George Alley is a strikingly evocative statement about the glory, hate, and pain which the racial issue arouses, and which still tear at the fabric of America today. The spectrum of reactions explored in this book will not fail to awaken a response.
Synopsis
Natchez, Mississippi, 1965: Racial tension is running high, the Ku Klux Klan holds a community captive, and many local blacks -- impoverished and apathetic -- are resigned to a fate decided by Jim Crow. A novel based in part on the author's own experience as a voter registration driver and Civil Rights activist,
Long George Alley follows the lives of twenty-two men and women who endure two eventful days of racial strife at Duncan Park.
Duncan Park is a place that boasts an oasis of lush green lawns, a world-class golf course, and long-held attitudes about segregation in the South. But soon the old folks at this exclusive country club will see a new generation of blacks and whites rally together -- in protest -- and make history. Strikingly original and brilliantly written, Long George Alley offers a rare and evocative look back at a critical, unforgettable time in America's history.
About the Author
Richard Hall, a native of East Orange, New Jersey, teaches writing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has been a visiting writer at Hampshire College and Trinity College, a reporter for Life magazine, and a writing fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.