{"product_id":"blessings-and-disasters-alexis-okeowo-9781250206220","title":"Blessings and Disasters: A Story of Alabama","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom a \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker \u003c\/i\u003estaff writer and PEN Award winner, a blend of memoir, history, and reportage on one of the most complex and least understood states in America.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In Alabama, we exist at the border of blessing and disaster....\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlexis Okeowo grew up in Montgomery, Alabama--the former seat of the Confederacy--as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. Here, she weaves her family's story with her state's, from Alabama's forced removal of the Creek Nation, making room for enslaved West Africans, to present-day legislative battles for \"evolution disclaimers\" in biology textbooks. She immerses us in a landscape today dominated not by cotton fields but by auto plants and Amazon warehouses. Defying stereotypes at every turn, Okeowo shows how people can love their home while still acknowledging its sins. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this perspective-shifting work that is both an intimate memoir and a journalistic triumph, Okeowo investigates her life, other Alabamians' lives, and the state's lesser-known histories, to examine why Alabama has been the stage for the most extreme results of the American experiment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Alexis Okeowo\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1250206227\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250206220\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Henry Holt \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/05\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.25h x 5.38w x 1.00d","brand":"Alexis Okeowo","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46293142208767,"sku":"9781250206220","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_744446d1-c4a7-4fc3-8baf-8a00146c2620.jpg?v=1730212249","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/blessings-and-disasters-alexis-okeowo-9781250206220","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}