The Fruit of All My Grief
Lives in the Shadows of the American Dream
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- USD 13.99
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- USD 13.99
Descripción editorial
Like the Russian author Svetlana Alexievich, award-winning journalist J. Malcolm Garcia lets the people he writes about speak for themselves. His writing highlights the struggles and the dignity of people quietly fighting for their lives. They include families and small businesses still recovering from the BP oil spill; the man sentenced to life in prison for transporting drugs to pay for the medical care that would save his son’s life; the widows of soldiers who died, not in war, but from toxic fumes they were exposed to at their bases overseas; the Iraqi interpreter who was promised American asylum, only to arrive and be forced to live in poverty. The soaring narratives told in The Fruit of All My Grief let us feel the fears, hopes, and outrage of those living in the shadows of the American Dream.
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Studs Terkel Prize winning journalist Garcia (The Khaarijee) tells 11 stories about people harmed by corporations, judges, and governments, with deep empathy and incredible attention. Jamie and Gladys Scott served 16 years for a robbery they did not commit; Dickie Joe Jackson was incarcerated for life for hauling drugs to raise over $100,000 for his son's medical treatment. Mexican roofer and father Sixto Paz sought sanctuary in a church after Homeland Security refused to renew the work permit he'd had for 25 years. The people of Greenbrier, Ark., find their health affected by fracking but have few economic options other than working for the gas companies. A veteran whose health was destroyed by toxic garbage "burn pits" in Iraq finds the VA is unwilling to take responsibility. Iraqi and Afghan translators residing in the U.S. on special visas because their work for the American military made them unsafe at home must do without practical support from the U.S. government. Garcia respectfully presents the realities his subjects are facing from their own perspectives, and he has a gift for polishing the story of a life until its heart shines through. This humane, urgent work will move readers.
