About A Lesson Before Dying

"The story of two African American men struggling to attain manhood in a prejudiced society, the tale is set in Bayonne, La. in the late 1940s. It concerns Jefferson, a mentally slow, barely literate young man, who, though an innocent bystander to a shoot out between a white store owner and two black robbers, is convicted of murder, and the sophisticated, educated man who comes to his aid. When Jefferson's own attorney claims that executing him would be tantamount to killing a hog, his incensed godmother, Miss Emma, turns to teacher Grant Wiggins, pleading with him to gain access to the jailed youth and help him to face his death by electrocution with dignity. Grant feels mingled love, loyalty and hatred for the poor plantation community where he was born and raised. He longs to leave the South and is reluctant to assume the level of leadership and involvement that helping Jefferson would require. Eventually, however, the two men, vastly different in potential yet equally degraded by racism, achieve a relationship that transforms them both. Suspense rises as it becomes clear that the integrity of the entire local black community depends on Jefferson's courage."

-- Publisher's Weekly

* Read an excerpt from A Lesson Before Dying *

 

Praise for A Lesson Before Dying

"This majestic, moving novel is an instant classic, a book that will be read, discussed, and taught beyond the rest of our lives."  -- The Chicago Tribune

"...Gaines has written a novel that is not only never maudlin, but approaches the spare beauty of a classic."  -- Kirkus Reviews

"...Gaines evokes a sense of reality through rich detail and believable characters in this simple, moving story."  -- School Library Journal

"Gaines's first novel in a decade may be his crowning achievement.  In this restrained but eloquent narrative, the author...addresses some of the major issues of race and identity in our time."  -- Publisher's Weekly

Awards:  National Book Critics Circle, Southern Writers' Conference, Louisiana Library, John Dos Passos, Langston Hughes, and Amistad.

 

 

Copyright © 2004  University of Maine at Farmington
Mantor Library -- 116 South Street Farmington, Maine, 04938
Phone: (207) 778-7210   FAX: (207) 778-7223   TDD: (207) 778-7000
E-mail contact: web-mantor@umf.maine edu

Last updated December 20, 2004