Get personalized recommendations and earn points toward a free book!
Before you go...
Check Out
The Bestselling Books of All Time
See the List
The Other Side of the River by Alex Kotlowitz

Look Inside

The Other Side of the River

A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America’s Dilemma

A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America’s Dilemma

A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America’s Dilemma

By Alex Kotlowitz

By Alex Kotlowitz

By Alex Kotlowitz

By Alex Kotlowitz

By Alex Kotlowitz
Read by Stanley Tucci

By Alex Kotlowitz
Read by Stanley Tucci

Best Seller

Category: Psychology

Category: Psychology

Category: Psychology | Audiobooks

Paperback $17.00

Jan 19, 1999 | 336 Pages

Ebook $13.99

Jan 04, 2012 | 336 Pages

Audiobook Download $12.48

Jul 04, 2000 | 360 Minutes

All Formats
+
    The Other Side of the River by Alex Kotlowitz
    Paperback
    Jan 19, 1999 | 336 Pages
    See All Formats (2) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $17.00

      Jan 19, 1999 | 336 Pages

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook $13.99

      Jan 04, 2012 | 336 Pages

    Audio
    +

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About The Other Side of the River

    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.

    About The Other Side of the River

    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.

    About The Other Side of the River

    Alex Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here was more than a bestseller; it was a national event. His beautifully narrated, heartbreaking nonfiction account of two black boys struggling to grow up in a Chicago public housing complex spent eight weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, was a made-for-television movie starring and produced by Oprah Winfrey, won many distinguished awards, and sparked a continuing national debate on the lives of inner-city children.



    In The Other Side of the River, his eagerly awaited new book, Kotlowitz takes us to southern Michigan. Here, separated by the St. Joseph River, are two towns, St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. Geographically close, they are worlds apart, 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. In this gripping and ultimately profound book, Alex Kotlowitz proves why he is one of this country’s foremost writers on the ever explosive issue of race.

    Also by Alex Kotlowitz

    An American Summer
    The Spelling Bee
    There Are No Children Here
    See all books by Alex Kotlowitz

    Also by Alex Kotlowitz

    An American Summer
    The Spelling Bee
    There Are No Children Here
    See all books by Alex Kotlowitz

    Also by Alex Kotlowitz

    An American Summer
    The Spelling Bee
    There Are No Children Here
    See all books by Alex Kotlowitz

    About Alex Kotlowitz

    Alex Kotlowitz is the author of the national bestseller There Are No Children Here, which the New York Public Library selected as one of the 150 most important books of the twentieth century. His second book, The Other Side of the River, was… More about Alex Kotlowitz

    About Alex Kotlowitz

    Alex Kotlowitz is the author of the national bestseller There Are No Children Here, which the New York Public Library selected as one of the 150 most important books of the twentieth century. His second book, The Other Side of the River, was… More about Alex Kotlowitz

    About Alex Kotlowitz

    Alex Kotlowitz is the author of the national bestseller There Are No Children Here, which the New York Public Library selected as one of the 150 most important books of the twentieth century. His second book, The Other Side of the River, was… More about Alex Kotlowitz

    Product Details

    Category: Psychology

    Paperback | $17.00
    Published by Anchor
    Jan 19, 1999 | 336 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780385477215

    Category: Psychology

    Ebook | $13.99
    Published by Anchor
    Jan 04, 2012 | 336 Pages | ISBN 9780307814296

    Category: Psychology | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $12.48
    Published by Random House Audio
    Jul 04, 2000 | 360 Minutes | ISBN 9780553753479

    People Who Read The Other Side of the River Also Read

    ‹ ›
    The Soul of America
    Beneath a Ruthless Sun
    Born a Crime
    How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
    We Were Eight Years in Power
    Rising Out of Hatred
    The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell
    White Fragility
    Mistaken Identity
    Killers of the Flower Moon
    Democracy in Black
    Fences (Movie tie-in)
    You Can't Touch My Hair
    Known and Strange Things
    God'll Cut You Down
    March: Book Two
    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
    Eyes on the Prize
    Notes of a Native Son
    Travels with Charley in Search of America
    The Classic Slave Narratives
    Up From Slavery
    Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
    Where Do We Go from Here
    On the Laps of Gods
    A Practical Guide to Racism
    Medical Apartheid
    "They Take Our Jobs!"
    No Name in the Street
    Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams
    Unforgivable Blackness
    Blood Done Sign My Name
    Why We Can't Wait
    The Freedom Writers Diary
    Unafraid of the Dark
    Even the Stars Look Lonesome
    Othello
    James Baldwin: Collected Essays (LOA #98)
    Life on the Color Line
    A Natural History of Love
    A Taste of Power
    Black Ice
    The Colonizer and the Colonized
    Hopes and Impediments
    Zami: A New Spelling of My Name

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Praise

    “I was impressed and enthralled…This book has suspense and style, and the delight of real substance presented with grace…a work of great narrative power, superb reporting, and profound empathy–in other words, a joy.” –Scott Turow

    “A riveting portrait of a racially troubled America in the 1990’s.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)

    “A vivid American microcosm, a telling tableau of the way we are.” —The New York Times

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    Download our Spring Fiction Sampler Now
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    TASTE img

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    LitFlash

    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices

    Read it Forward

    Read it first. Pass it on!