The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma

by Alex Kotlowitz

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Book cover for The Other Side of the River

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Bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz is one of this country's foremost writers on the ever explosive issue of race. In this gripping and ultimately profound book, Kotlowitz takes us to two towns in southern Michigan, St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, separated by the St. Joseph River. Geographically close, but worlds apart, they are a living metaphor for America's racial divisions: St. Joseph is a prosperous lakeshore community and ninety-five percent white, while Benton Harbor is impoverished and ninety-two percent black. When the body of a black teenaged boy from Benton Harbor is found in the river, unhealed wounds and suspicions between the two towns' populations surface as well. The investigation into the young man's death becomes, inevitably, a screen on which each town projects their resentments and fears. The Other Side of the River sensitively portrays the lives and hopes of the towns' citizens as they wrestle with this mystery--and reveals the attitudes and misperceptions that undermine race relations throughout America.
  • ISBN10 038547721X
  • ISBN13 9780385477215
  • Publish Date 19 January 1999 (first published 5 January 1998)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country US
  • Publisher Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
  • Imprint Anchor