Another Day in the Death of America Lib/E: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives

Product Description


On an average day in America, seven young people aged nineteen or under will be shot dead. In Another Day in the Death of America, award-winning Guardian journalist Gary Younge tells the stories of the lives lost during the course of a single day in the United States. It could have been any day, but Younge has chosen November 23, 2013. From Jaiden Dixon (9), shot point-blank by his mother's ex-boyfriend on his doorstep in Ohio, to Pedro Dado Cortez (16), shot by an enemy gang on a street corner in California, the narrative crisscrosses the country over a period of twenty-four hours to reveal the powerful human stories behind the statistics.
Far from a dry account of gun policy in the United States or a polemic about the dangers of gun violence, the book is a gripping chronicle of an ordinary but deadly day in American life, and a series of character portraits of young people taken from us far too soon and those they left behind. Whether it's a father's unspeakable grief over his son who was at the wrong place at the wrong time, a mentor who tries to channel his rage by organizing, or a friend and neighbor who finds strength in faith, the lives lost on that day and the lives left behind become, in Younge's hands, impossible to ignore-or to forget. What emerges in these pages is a searing portrait of youth, family, and the way that lives can be shattered in an instant on any day in America.
At a time when it has become indisputable that Americans need to rethink their position on guns, this moving narrative work puts a human face-a child's face-on the collateral damage of gun deaths across the country. In his journalism, Younge is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and looking twice where others might look away. There are some things, he argues, that we have come to see as normal, even when they are unacceptable. And gun violence is one of them. A clear-eyed and iconoclastic approach to this contentious issue, this book helps answer the questions so many of us are grappling with, and makes it even harder to just look away.


Review


A beautifully told and empathic account that wrenches at the heart even as it continues to engage the brain. -- "Guardian (London)"


A sharp portrait of America, painted in blood. -- "Economist (London)"


An often unbearable act of bearing witness...It's impossible to pretend we don't have a problem when we lose ten young people in one day. -- "Boston Globe"


Exactingly argued, fluidly written, and extremely upsetting...Mr. Younge, makes for a personable, unusual narrator. As a Briton, he brings a fresh perspective to this topic. As a father and a man of Barbadian descent, his interest in it is also personal. -- "New York Times"


Formidably intelligent and tenacious. A tour de force of regulated passion.-- "Martin Amis, New York Times bestselling author"


Heart-rending, beautifully crafted...Important, deeply affecting, and certain to alarm readers who care about the lives of children in a gun-ridden society.-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"


Sad, frustrating, but profoundly humane and ultimately illuminating, Another Day is political writing at its best.-- "O, The Oprah Magazine"


This is Gary Younge's masterwork: you will never read news reports about gun violence the same way again. Brilliantly reported, quietly indignant, and utterly gripping. A book to be read through tears.-- "Naomi Klein, New York Times bestselling author"


Younge brings a clear-eyed perspective to this fraught topic...A heartrending compendium of the lives of American children taken by guns on an average day.-- "Library Journal (starred review)"


Younge provides nuance and context to a polarizing issue...[he] pieces together each story from news reports and interviews with friends and family, weaving a tragic narrative of wasted potential.-- "Publishers Weekly"


About the Author


Gary Younge is an author, broadcaster, and award-winning columnist for the Guardian. He also writes a