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God'll Cut You Down
God'll Cut You Down: The Tangled Tale of a White Supremacist, a Black Hustler, a Murder, and How I Lost a Year in Mississippi | John Safran
10 posts | 15 read | 16 to read
An unlikely journalist, a murder case in Mississippi, and a fascinating literary true crime story in the style of Jon Ronson, for fans of "Serial."A notorious white supremacist named Richard Barrett was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 2010 by a young black man named Vincent McGee. At first the murder seemed a twist on old Deep South race crimes. But then new revelations and complications came to light. Maybe it was a dispute over money rather than raceor, maybe and intriguingly, over sex.John Safran, a young white Jewish Australian documentarian, had been in Mississippi and interviewed Barrett for a film on race. When he learned of Barretts murder, he returned to find out what happened and became caught up in the twists and turns of the case. During his time in Mississippi, Safran got deeper and deeper into this gothic southern world, becoming entwined in the lives of those connected with the murderwhite separatist frenemies, black lawyers, police investigators, oddball neighbors, the stunned families, even the killer himself. And the more he talked with them, the less simple the crimeand the people involvedseemed to be. In the end, he discovered how profoundly and indelibly complex the truth about someones lifeand deathcan be.This is a brilliant, haunting, hilarious, unsettling story about race, money, sex, and power in the modern American South from an outsiders point of view.
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review
keepingupwiththepenguins
Murder in Mississippi | John Safran
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Pickpick

Safran embarks on his investigation with all the preconceptions you‘d expect upon hearing that a white supremacist might have been murdered by a black man. He charged in with a bit of a white saviour mentality, to be honest. He thought he‘d EXPOSE INJUSTICE and FIX RACISM… and, of course, nothing of the sort came to pass. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/murder-in-mississippi-john-safran/

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Oblomov26
Murder in Mississippi | John Safran
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Pickpick

I have fallen down a John Safran hole recently. John realises that he had met and interviewed (and pranked) a white supremacist in Louisiana who was murdered by a black man. When it transpires that the man who committed the murder worked doing odd jobs for the victim and that the case included a sexual component and John has to investigate. An interesting true crime tale, investigating the role that race, sex and money had played in the murder.

8little_paws I freaking loved this book. It was also published as God'll cut you down 5y
58 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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LeahBergen
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Oops! I forgot to post yesterday. John Berendt‘s “frightening and hilarious” blurb has me intrigued.

#Prejudice
#150PnPCoverParty

CherryPie Great song! 6y
CrowCAH The family was over; understandable! 6y
LeahBergen @CherryPie SUCH a great song. 👍🏻 6y
LeahBergen @CrowCAH 😘😘 6y
94 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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AmberWB
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Mehso-so

This book was...interesting. John Safran is a “white Jewish Australian documentarian and humorist” and even mentions in the book that writing a book is not the same as filming a documentary. This is apparent in the book. I think part of my issue with the book was his writing style as well as how he approached Mississippi and its‘ citizens. I found myself wincing at many of his descriptions.

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AmberWB
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This is my pick for the @bookriot Read Harder Challenge- True Crime. I‘ve been struggling to get through it- I think it is the writing style more than anything. However, I can‘t get this passage out of my mind. I teach high school and I see so many students that this applies to. Would their lives be any different if they‘d had more support from home?

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juliemhowe
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Jeg
Murder in Mississippi | John Safran
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Pickpick

Loved reading this book. I'm much better reading John Safran than watching him. Watching him when he is so confrontational makes me uncomfortable. Even though I agree with him. Much easier for me to read him.

6 likes2 stack adds
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Jeg
Murder in Mississippi | John Safran
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Op shop finds yesterday. Could not wait to get home to start the John Safran book. Thank you @MrsMalaprop for introducing him to me. I'm loving it. Would love to stay home today and just read! But have things to do. 😞 . Despite my huge TBR pile I just had to fit this one in now.

MrsMalaprop 👏👏👏 Hope you like it. You know I'm happy to loan you books anytime. Will bring a couple of Litsy-recommended reads to book club to see if you'd like to borrow any of them 😊. 7y
5 likes1 comment
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AlizaApp
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Mehso-so

I love #TrueCrime but I found this one a little cringe-y. It's an interesting case, but the author's comedic take on the genre and odd fascination with American race relations (he is a white Australian) were off-putting. #RogueBookBingo

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