Gr 10 Up-John Howard Griffin's groundbreaking and controversial novel about his experiences as a white man who transforms himself with the aid of medication and dye in order to experience firsthand the life of a black man living in the Deep South in the late 1950s is a mesmerizing tale of the ultimate sociological experiment. Ray Childs' narration is both straightforward and deeply satisfying. A skilled reader, he incorporates different dialects to help listeners distinguish among the various characters. His ability to convey a full spectrum of emotions, including exhilaration, bone deep sadness, and gut wrenching fear is riveting. Equally fascinating is Childs' description of how Griffin's unheard of approach to studying racial discrimination changed his personal life and ignited a storm of argument and discussion around the nation. This recording deserves a place in every public library collection.-Cindy Lombardo, Tuscarawas County Public Library, New Philadelphia, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

About the Author

John Howard Griffin was a novelist and photographer. He served with the French Resistance during World War Two and after the publication of Black Like Me,enduring threats and physical attacks. As a human rights activist he worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and taught at the University of Peace.

Reviews

One of the most extraordinary books ever written about relations between the races.
*The Today Programme*

In 1959, a white American decided to turn himself into a 'Negro'...John Howard Griffin would venture alone into some of the Deep South's most virulently racist hotspots and experience life on the other side of the tracks...Black Like Me brilliantly reveals the dehumanisation of black people by the white majority...This reissued edition will introduce a whole new British readership to a work that is still an important, illuminating and fascinating read.
*The Times*

Black Like Me is in the form of a two-month diary and revealed to white America - and Griffin himself - the indignities, abuse and threat of violence that black people had to put up with on a daily basis.
*Black History 365*

John Howard Griffin...embarked on one of the most remarkable one-man social and psychological experiments in history...Griffin was the white man who fooled hundreds of Americans into believing he was a black man as he travelled through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia - and who felt at first hand the bigotry that meant...It is worth reading what he wrote - and then reflecting, in this age of the first African-American president, on how far we have come. And how far we have to go.
*BBC News website*

One of the most fascinating journalistic investigations carried out in the USA...When Griffin described what he experienced...it awoke a vast section of the American public to what was happening in their country.
*The Voice*

Fifty years after John Howard Griffin darkened his skin and travelled through the segregated US south, his record of the fear and prejudice he experienced is still resonant... As long as one group persecutes, fears and detests another, Black Like Me will, sadly, remain essential reading.
*Guardian*

Griffin's (The Devil Rides Outside) mid-century classic on race brilliantly withstands both the test of time and translation to audio format. Concerned by the lack of communication between the races and wondering what "adjustments and discriminations" he would face as a Negro in the Deep South, the late author, a journalist and self-described "specialist in race issues," left behind his privileged life as a Southern white man to step into the body of a stranger. In 1959, Griffin headed to New Orleans, darkened his skin and immersed himself in black society, then traveled to several states until he could no longer stand the racism, segregation and degrading living conditions. Griffin imparts the hopelessness and despair he felt while executing his social experiment, and professional narrator Childs renders this recounting even more immediate and emotional with his heartfelt delivery and skillful use of accents. The CD package includes an epilogue on social progress, written in 1976 by the author, making it suitable for both the classroom and for personal enlightenment. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

In 1959, Griffin, a noted white journalist, decided to try an experiment. He felt that the only way to determine the truth about how African Americans were treated by whites, and to learn if there was discrimination, was to become one. After a series of medical treatments that darkened his skin, he began his travels in the Deep South. Made up primarily of his journal entries during that time, Black Like Me, read by Ray Childs, details the experiences he had while passing for black. He finds that the people who saw him as white days earlier would not give him the time of day. He suffered even more as he rode buses in New Orleans, discovering how whites would no longer sit next to him. Listeners will be fascinated by his bus trip to Mississippi during which the driver would not let any of the African Americans off at a rest stop and how some of the passengers decided to deal with this slight. A fascinating view of life before the heyday of the Civil Rights movement, showing the difficulties of being black in America. For all libraries.-Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

One of the most extraordinary books ever written about relations between the races. -- BBC Radio 4 * The Today Programme *
In 1959, a white American decided to turn himself into a 'Negro'...John Howard Griffin would venture alone into some of the Deep South's most virulently racist hotspots and experience life on the other side of the tracks...Black Like Me brilliantly reveals the dehumanisation of black people by the white majority...This reissued edition will introduce a whole new British readership to a work that is still an important, illuminating and fascinating read. -- Bernardine Evaristo * The Times *
Black Like Me is in the form of a two-month diary and revealed to white America - and Griffin himself - the indignities, abuse and threat of violence that black people had to put up with on a daily basis. -- The official magazine of Black History Month * Black History 365 *
John Howard Griffin...embarked on one of the most remarkable one-man social and psychological experiments in history...Griffin was the white man who fooled hundreds of Americans into believing he was a black man as he travelled through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia - and who felt at first hand the bigotry that meant...It is worth reading what he wrote - and then reflecting, in this age of the first African-American president, on how far we have come. And how far we have to go. * BBC News website *
One of the most fascinating journalistic investigations carried out in the USA...When Griffin described what he experienced...it awoke a vast section of the American public to what was happening in their country. * The Voice *
Fifty years after John Howard Griffin darkened his skin and travelled through the segregated US south, his record of the fear and prejudice he experienced is still resonant... As long as one group persecutes, fears and detests another, Black Like Me will, sadly, remain essential reading. * Guardian *