Praying for Sheetrock by Melissa Fay Greene

Praying for Sheetrock

A Work of Nonfiction

Melissa Fay Greene

Grand Central Publishing · Print & ebook · August 29, 2006

Finalist for the 1991 National Book Award and a New York Times Notable book, Praying for Sheetrock is the story of McIntosh County, a small, isolated, and lovely place on the flowery coast of Georgia--and a county where, in the 1970s, the white sheriff still wielded all the power, controlling everything and everybody.

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Who it’s for
A nonfiction read that pairs local history with clear-eyed cultural insight.
Genres
Southern U.S. History, Civil Rights, Black History
Published
Grand Central Publishing, August 29, 2006

About this book

Finalist for the 1991 National Book Award and a New York Times Notable book, Praying for Sheetrock is the story of McIntosh County, a small, isolated, and lovely place on the flowery coast of Georgia--and a county where, in the 1970s, the white sheriff still wielded all the power, controlling everything and everybody. Somehow the sweeping changes of the civil rights movement managed to bypass McIntosh entirely.

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It took one uneducated, unemployed black man, Thurnell Alston, to challenge the sheriff and his courthouse gang--and to change the way of life in this community forever. "An inspiring and absorbing account of the struggle for human dignity and racial equality" (Coretta Scott King)

Why It Clicks

A nonfiction read that pairs local history with clear-eyed cultural insight.

Come here for

  • Southern history with a nonfiction spine
  • Civil rights context without the textbook fog

Expect

  • Measured, narrative nonfiction
  • Plenty to talk over afterward

Where it sits

Southern U.S. History48%
Civil Rights32%
Black History21%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • 20th-Century America
  • Southern U.S. History
  • Black History
  • Civil Rights
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Sociology
  • Rural Life
  • Race & Discrimination
  • Regional Studies
Authors
Melissa Fay Greene
Publisher
Grand Central Publishing
Published
August 29, 2006
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
20th-Century America