Another Day in the Death of America, Gary Younge
Another Day in the Death of America, Gary Younge
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Another Day in the Death of America
A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives

Author: Gary Younge

Narrator: Mirron Willis

Unabridged: 10 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/04/2016


Synopsis

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.

About Gary Younge

Gary Younge is an author, broadcaster, and award-winning columnist for the Guardian. He also writes a monthly column, Beneath the Radar, for Nation and is the Alfred Knobler Fellow for the Nation Institute. In addition, Younge has written several books and made a number of radio and television documentaries on subjects ranging from the tea party to hip hop culture. In 2009 he won the James Cameron award for the “combined moral vision and professional integrity” of his coverage of the Obama campaign. He lives in Chicago.

About Mirron Willis

Mirron Willis is a talented actor whose credits include theater, film, and television. His recordings include the Odyssey Honor award winner Elijah of Buxton by Paul Christopher Curtis; Sixty Feet, Sixty Inches by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler; Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead; Invisible Life, Basketball Jones, and  I Say A Little Prayer by E. Lynn Harris. Mirron is the recipient of numerous Earphone Awards and has recorded many works by Walter Mosley and Orson Scott Card.


Reviews

The Fourth of July weekend is the time to celebrate with barbecues, fireworks, parades, and concerts. But it was disheartening to hear at least 220 people were killed and 570 others injured during the Fourth of July weekend last year. Shootings were reported in almost all fifty States. Why are......more

Goodreads review by jv

One random day. 10 children died. From gunshot wounds. Mr. Younge boldly bears witness to each of these tragedies. He clearly and concisely conveys each of these stories that so desperately needed to be told. This book is not about gun control. Not once, in any of the interviews conducted with victims......more

Goodreads review by Paul

The idea of this book is simple – take a random day (Saturday, 23 November 2013) and write an account of all the kids who were shot and killed in that 24 hour period in the USA. There were ten. (Note – suicides are omitted because they are never reported. So the figure is probably higher than ten.)......more

5★ [Note this book was published in 2016] Reposting again, again, AGAIN March 2023 after a Tennesee Christian school shooting that killed three children and six adults. "In 2019 and 2021, [Tennessee Governor] Lee signed legislation loosening Tennessee gun laws. The 2021 bill, which was opposed by ma......more


Quotes

“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

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

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

“A sharp portrait of America, painted in blood.” Economist (London)

“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

“A beautifully told and empathic account that wrenches at the heart even as it continues to engage the brain.” Guardian (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

“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)

“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)

“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


Awards

  • Amazon Editors' Pick
  • Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year
  • New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
  • Shelf Awareness Best Book
  • Boston Globe Pick
  • J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
  • Orwell Prize
  • CWA Gold Dagger
  • Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books
  • New York Times Pick