{"product_id":"writing-to-save-a-life-the-louis-till-file-9781501147296","title":"Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File","description":"\u003cb\u003eA major literary figure tells \"a searching tale of loss, recovery, and d ja vu that is part memoir and what-if speculation, part polemic and expos \" (\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e) about two generations of one family--civil rights martyr Emmett Till and his father, Louis--shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEmmett Till took a train from his home in Chicago to visit family in Money, Mississippi; a few weeks later he returned home dead. Murdered because he was a colored boy and had, allegedly, whistled at a white woman. His mother, Mamie Till, chose to display her son's brutalized face in a glass-topped casket, \"so the world can see what they did to my baby.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEmmett Till's murder and his mother's refusal to allow his story to be forgotten have become American legends. But one darkly significant twist in the Till legend is rarely mentioned: Louis Till, Emmett's father, Mamie's husband, a soldier during World War II, was executed in Italy for committing rape and murder. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1955, when he and Emmett were each only fourteen years old, Wideman saw a horrific photograph of dead Emmett's battered face. Decades later, upon discovering that Louis Till had been court-martialed and hanged, he was impelled to investigate the tragically intertwined fates of father and son. \u003ci\u003eWriting to Save a Life\u003c\/i\u003e is \"part exploration and part meditation, a searching account of  Wideman's] attempt to learn more about the short life of Louis Till\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e) and shine light on the truths that have remained in darkness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWideman, the author of the award-winning \u003ci\u003eBrothers and Keepers\u003c\/i\u003e, \"is a master of quiet meditation...and his book is remarkable for its insight and power\" (\u003ci\u003eSFGate\u003c\/i\u003e). An amalgam of research, memoir, and imagination, \u003ci\u003eWriting to Save a Life\u003c\/i\u003e is essential and \"impressive\" (\u003ci\u003ePittsburgh Post-Gazette\u003c\/i\u003e) reading--an engaging, enlightening conversation between generations, the living and the dead, fathers and sons.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn Edgar Wideman's books include \u003ci\u003eAmerican Histories\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWriting to Save a Life\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePhiladelphia Fire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Brothers and Keepers\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFatheralong\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Hoop Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSent for You Yesterday\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a MacArthur Fellow, has won the PEN\/Faulkner Award twice, and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and National Book Award. He divides his time between New York and France.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Scribner Book Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50504795291922,"sku":"9781501147296","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a86ff82c-d66e-4e94-ac21-b0e15534aa8c.jpg?v=1730827356","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/writing-to-save-a-life-the-louis-till-file-9781501147296","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}