Leonard Pitts

"At the end of the Civil War, an escaped slave first returns to his old plantation and then walks across the ravaged South in search of his lost wife"--Provided by the publisher.

A Novel

Freeman

"A man recently diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease takes a road trip to visit his ailing, estranged father, along with his troubled teen-aged son"--Provided by publisher.

Before I Forget

Before I forget

"A novel as significant as it is engrossing." --Booklist, starred review Grant Park is a page-turning and provocative look at black and white relations in contemporary America, blending the absurd and the poignant in a powerfully well-crafted narrative that showcases Pitts's gift for telling emotionally wrenching stories. Grant Park begins in 1968, with Martin Luther King's final days in Memphis. The story then moves to the eve of the 2008 election, and cuts between the two eras. Disillusioned columnist Malcolm Toussaint, fueled by yet another report of unarmed black men killed by police, hacks into his newspaper's server to post an incendiary column that had been rejected by his editors. Toussaint then disappears, and his longtime editor, Bob Carson, is summarily fired within hours of the column's publication. While a furious Carson tries to find Toussaint--while simultaneously dealing with the reappearance of a lost love from his days as a 60s activist--Toussaint is abducted by two white supremacists plotting to explode a bomb at Barack Obama's planned rally in Chicago's Grant Park. Toussaint and Carson are forced to remember the choices they made as young men, when both their lives were changed profoundly by their work in the civil rights movement.

Grant Park

Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood

Becoming Dad

"A collection of columns from nationally-syndicated, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Leonard Pitts, Jr"--Provided by publisher.

selected columns, 1994/2008

Forward from this moment

Three Americans in the Jim Crow South face enormous changed triggered by World War II in this epic novel by the Pulitzer-winning author of Freeman. Could you find the courage to do what’s right in a world on fire? An affluent white marine survives Pearl Harbor at the cost of a black messman’s life only to be sent, wracked with guilt, to the Pacific and taken prisoner by the Japanese. A young black woman, widowed by the same events at Pearl Harbor, finds unexpected opportunity and a dangerous friendship in a segregated Alabama shipyard feeding the war. Meanwhile, a black man, who as a child saw his parents brutally lynched, is conscripted to fight Nazis for a country he despises and discovers a new kind of patriotism in the all-black 761st Tank Battalion . . . Set against a backdrop of violent racial conflict on both the front lines and the home front, The Last Thing You Surrender explores the powerful moral struggles of individuals from a divided nation. What does it take to change someone’s mind about race? What does it take for a country and a people to move forward, transformed? Praise for The Last Thing You Surrender “A story of our nation at war, with itself as well as tyranny across the globe. It’s an American tapestry of hatred, compassion, fear, courage, and cruelties, leavened with the promise of triumph. A powerful story I will not soon forget.” —James R. Benn, author of the Billy Boyle WWII mysteries “Seamlessly integrates impressive research into a compelling tale of America at war—overseas, at home, and within ourselves, as we struggle to find the better angels of our nature. Pitts poignantly illustrates ongoing racial and class tensions, and offers hope that we can overcome hatred by refusing to sacrifice dignity.” —Booklist, starred review

The Last Thing You Surrender

Two Chicago newspapermen grapple with race and the past in this contemporary terrorist thriller by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Freeman. Disillusioned Chicago columnist Malcolm Toussaint, fueled by yet another report of unarmed Black men killed by police, hacks into his newspaper’s server to post an incendiary column that had been rejected by his editors. Toussaint then disappears, and his longtime editor, Bob Carson, is summarily fired within hours of the column’s publication. While a furious Carson tries to find Toussaint—while dealing with the reappearance of a lost love from his days as a ‘60s activist—Toussaint is abducted by two white supremacists plotting to bomb Barack Obama’s planned rally in Grant Park. Toussaint and Carson are forced to reckon with the choices they made as young men, when both their lives were changed profoundly by their work in the civil rights movement . . . Grant Park is a page-turning and provocative look at black and white relations in contemporary America, blending the absurd and the poignant in a powerfully well-crafted narrative that showcases Pitts’s gift for telling emotionally wrenching stories. Praise for Grant Park “A taut thriller that weaves together a stark look at America’s tortured racial past with a fast-paced tale of terrorist conspiracy and love rekindled.” —Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun Times “A page-turner, but also one that commands deep reflection on history, racism, and personal choices.” —Blanca Torres, The Seattle Times “Layered, insightful, and passionate. Pitts’s subtly explosive language grips readers with the delicate subject matter and earnestly implores them to understand that “[race] has always meant something and it always will.” The scars will remain, but stunningly powerful examinations like Grant Park can be the salve that helps heal open wounds.” —Shelf-Awareness, starred review

Leonard Pitts

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