Synopses & Reviews
On January 2, 1972, Mark Arax's childhood came to a sudden, explosive end when his father was shot to death at his nightclub in Fresno, California. It was one of the most sensational murders in California's heartland, and it was never solved.
Mark, only fifteen years old at the time, was left with a legacy of questions: Were the rumors about his father true? Had he led a double life? Was he killed because of his dealings with the underworld?
Mark Arax, an award-winning journalist at the Los Angeles Times, now writes a searing, intensely personal account of his twenty-two-year search for answers about his father's life and death, and his own identity.
As the oldest child, Mark was thrust into the role of patriarch. His quest for answers began in high school, when he sought out his father's father, an Armenian immigrant. His grandfather opened a window into an old country world full of promise and heartbreak -- and four generations of eccentric family members.
Two decades later, Mark uprooted his wife and baby and returned to Fresno under an assumed name to try and determine who killed his father and why. Fearing for his own life, he discovers his father was murdered just before he was going to make a startling disclosure.
More than a true-life murder mystery, more than an exploration of family and culture, In My Father's Name is the poignant story of one man's remarkable journey as he uncovers long-hidden secrets about his father, his family, his heritage, and the town he once called home.
Review
Wil Haygood Author of King Of The Cats: The Life And Times Of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. A brave and chilling story...You won't forget the landscape rendered in this book, nor the ache of family lore. And certainly not Arax's beautiful and cleareyed writing that enables him to reclaim his father's lost honor.
Review
Peter H. King Columnist, Los Angeles Times Almost every American town harbors some brutal secret, but few produce writers like Mark Arax with both the courage and artistic talent needed to coax the story out and shape it into fine literature. Of course, Arax had an extra incentive: the footsteps he followed ran straight through his own family, straight through his own heart.
Synopsis
From Simon & Schuster comes an unforgettable autobiography from Mark Arax: In My Father's Name. Mark Arax recounts the incredible events that transpired twenty years after his father's unsolved murder, during which he returned to Fresno under an assumed name and uncovered the startling disclosure that preceded his father's tragic death.