Paul Hendrickson
Sons of Mississippi: A Story of Race and Its Legacy (2003)
Author: Paul Hendrickson
Genre: Nonfiction (History/Social Issues)
Book Summary:
This won the National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction and the Heartland Prize for Nonfiction. The book stems from a photograph Hendrickson saw in Powerful Days: The Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore. The photograph, taken a few days before James Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi, is of seven Mississippi law men standing around on the campus of Ole Miss. One of the men is practicing swinging a billy while the rest of the men look on. The photograph struck something in Hendrickson and this book is his attempt to learn more about that photograph, the men in it, and the lives of those men's sons and grandsons. The book delves into the background of the sheriffs, the majority of them dead by the time Hendrickson starts his research. The heart of the story, though, is about the sons and grandsons of these men and how one photo and the men in that photo affected their lives. There are interviews with people who knew the seven men, including former coworkers and family members. The author also interviewed James Meredith and there is some fascinating information about Meredith's life after his integration of Ole Miss.
Geographical Setting: Various cities in the United States, mostly in the South
Time Period: The interviews took place from 1996 to 2003; some of the book deals with events that took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Appeal Characteristics:
The writing reminds me of my idea of life in Mississippi: slow and drawn-out. There seems to be a poetic nature to the writing; it's not dry nonfiction. The author doesn't write in a matter-of-fact manner; his opinions and observations are in the book. The writing is a combination of journalistic and literary style; the scenes are set up very well with who, what, when, where, and the why which is the meat of the story, but there is a very literary, almost conversational style that occurs even in the parts of the book that are not interviews. The setting is important because most of it takes place in the South at people's homes and the description of where and how they live is telling as to who they are. There is an enormous amount of "character development". The backgrounds of the subjects are described and because a lot of the book was taken from interviews, there is dialogue which gives insight to the people interviewed. There seems to be a dichotomy in some people as they are the stereotypical genteel, welcoming Southerner, but they have intense feelings of hatred, even forty years after the fact. There is a definite emotional impact in the story, especially with three specific storylines. The first is with John Ed Cothran, the only sheriff still alive when Hendrickson was researching the book. Cothran helped get the body of Emmett Till out of the Tallahatchie River. His son, John, who is interviewed extensively has multiple marriages, a scattered work life, and a temper problem which he wonders aloud if it stems from his father. The second is with James Meredith and what his life was like when he integrated Ole Miss and what it has been like since those days. He seems to have become very eccentric and the interview is very emotional. The third is Ty Ferrell, grandson of William T. Ferrell, the man in the center of the photo, swinging the billy. Ty's father and William's son, Tommy Ferrell, replaced his father as sheriff and the son was expected to follow, but Ty lives in New Mexico, working as a border patrol agent, and has some emotional issues when it comes to talking about his father and grandfather. Though the book could have easily written all these men off as racists, it delves deeper into their lives to wonder why they were the way they were and while their actions are not forgivable, the men seem less like demons and more like truly flawed men.
Read-alikes: American Requiem: God, Father, and the War That Came Between Us by James Carroll is a memoir about the Vietnam War and how it affected one family who took different sides. It could appeal to readers who enjoyed the familial aspect of Sons of Mississippi. Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story by Timothy Tyson is a memoir about racism in the South. When Tyson was 10, a black man was murdered in his town by a white man with ties to the Ku Klux Klan who was later acquitted. Its personal nature about racism could appeal to those who enjoyed the emotional nature of the interviews in Sons of Mississippi. Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara directed by Errol Morris is a documentary about McNamara, the Secretary of Defense for the presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson. He speaks openly about Vietnam and other U.S. acts, speaking about what he's learned from his life, which could appeal to the readers who liked the interviews with the sheriff in Sons of Mississippi. Powerful Days: The Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore is the book that Hendrickson saw the photograph he based Sons of Mississippi on and contains many photos from the Civil Rights era which could appeal to readers who want to see more photos of the man whose photograph inspired Sons of Mississippi. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic novel about growing up in the South and it deals with the issues of racism and justice. This novel could appeal to someone looking for a novel about racism and the South.
Red Flags: Racial slurs, some description of violence.
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