By Nathan McCall. "Not since Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land has there been such an honest and searching look at the perils of growing up a black male in urban America....A compelling depiction of the toll that racism and misguided notions of manhood have taken in the life of one black man--and, by implication, many others."--The San Francisco Chronicle

"Angry, eloquent, and powerful . . . a relentlessly honest book filled with pain, triumph, rage and humor, high and low." --Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Sooner or later, every generation must find its voice. It may be that ours belongs to Nathan McCall, whose memoir is . . . a stirring tale of transformation. He is a mesmerizing storyteller." --Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The New Yorker

A true-life Native Son for the 1990s--an African American Washington Post reporter who served time recounts his life and brilliantly shows why prison has become a rite of passage for many young black men. Vintage (1995), English, Paperback: 432 pages.

About the Author

Nathan McCall grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia.  He studied journalism at Norfolk State University after serving three years in prison.  He reported for the Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star and the Altanta Journal-Constitution before moving to The Washington Post in 1989.