{"product_id":"men-we-reaped-jesmyn-ward-9781608195213","title":"Men We Reaped","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed one of the Best Books of the Century by \u003ci\u003eNew York\u003c\/i\u003e Magazine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwo-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward (\u003ci\u003eSalvage the Bones, Sing, Unburied, Sing\u003c\/i\u003e) contends with the deaths of five young men dear to her, and the risk of being a black man in the rural South.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"We saw the lightning and that was the guns; and then we heard the thunder and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling and that was the blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.\" --Harriet Tubman \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five young men in her life--to drugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the question: Why? And as she began to write about the experience of living through all the dying, she realized the truth--and it took her breath away. Her brother and her friends all died because of who they were and where they were from, because they lived with a history of racism and economic struggle that fostered drug addiction and the dissolution of family and relationships. Jesmyn says the answer was so obvious she felt stupid for not seeing it. But it nagged at her until she knew she had to write about her community, to write their stories and her own. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJesmyn grew up in poverty in rural Mississippi. She writes powerfully about the pressures this brings, on the men who can do no right and the women who stand in for family in a society where the men are often absent. She bravely tells her story, revisiting the agonizing losses of her only brother and her friends. As the sole member of her family to leave home and pursue higher education, she writes about this parallel American universe with the objectivity distance provides and the intimacy of utter familiarity. A brutal world rendered beautifully, Jesmyn Ward's memoir will sit comfortably alongside Edwidge Danticat's \u003ci\u003eBrother, I'm Dying\u003c\/i\u003e, Tobias Wolff's \u003ci\u003eThis Boy's Life\u003c\/i\u003e, and Maya Angelou's\u003ci\u003e I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jesmyn Ward\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 160819521X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781608195213\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/17\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.89lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.54h x 5.90w x 1.09d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e National Book Critics Circle Award - Finalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Indies Choice Book Awards - Honor Book\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Hurston\/Wright LEGACY Award - Nominee\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Dayton Literary Peace Prize - Finalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2013 pg. 59\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Bea Big Book Guide\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2013 pg. 36\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/24\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/02\/2013 pg. 69\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2013 pg. 21\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews Fall Preview\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/15\/2013 pg. 31\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2013 pg. 111\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEssence\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2013 pg. 86\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/15\/2013 pg. 14\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/20\/2013 pg. 156\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/22\/3013 pg. 30\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/27\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly Best Books\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/04\/2013 pg. 20\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Best Nonfiction\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2013 pg. 39\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/13\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNY Times Notable Bks of Year\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/08\/2013 pg. 28\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/24\/2014 pg. 21\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookPage\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2013","brand":"Jesmyn Ward","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44068808818943,"sku":"9781608195213","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_76e100c7-7fa7-4ea4-bbcf-3389b99140d4.jpg?v=1685421120","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/men-we-reaped-jesmyn-ward-9781608195213","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}