Cover of Wolf Whistle

Wolf Whistle

by Lewis Nordan · 1993

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In 1956, a black boy named Emmett Till was murdered for wolf-whistling at a white woman. The two white men responsible were tried— and acquitted— in a Mississippi town near Lewis Nordan's boyhood home. These events changed him forever. In this extraordinary novel, Nordan transforms one of America's most notorious racial killings into a magical mystery ride of hilarity and horror that you will never forget.

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"An immense and wall-shattering display of talent. Wolf Whistlewill help usher Lewis Nordan into the Hall of Fame of American Letters." —Randall Kenan, The Nation

Genre
historical fictionhistorical fictionMore like thisLess of thismagical realismmagical realismMore like thisLess of thisliterary fictionliterary fictionMore like thisLess of thiscrimecrimeMore like thisLess of thishumorhumorMore like thisLess of this
Themes
raceraceMore like thisLess of this
Setting
1990s1990sMore like thisLess of thisAmerican SouthAmerican SouthMore like thisLess of thisMississippiMississippiMore like thisLess of this
Subject
biographybiographyMore like thisLess of thishistoryhistoryMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
medium · 312 pages

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Liked Wolf Whistle? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Wolf Whistle. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

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  3. A Childhood: The Biography of a Place Harry Crews · 1978 Shares southern lit, southern, southern literature
  4. Run with the Horsemen Ferrol Sams · 1982 Shares fiction, historical fiction, southern lit
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“People who read Wolf Whistle tend to reach for these next.”

  1. High Lonesome Barry Hannah · 1996
  2. In My Father's House Ernest J. Gaines · 1978
  3. The Watch Rick Bass · 1989
  4. Billy Ray's Farm: Essays from a Place Called Tula Larry Brown · 2001

“If you want more of the same (historical fiction about race), start with these.”

  1. The Voice at the Back Door Elizabeth Spencer · 1956
  2. The Mansion William Faulkner · 1959
  3. Cotton Song: A Novel Tom Bailey · 2006
  4. Eat, Drink, and Be From Mississippi Nanci Kincaid · 2008

“If it was the southern lit that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Hell at the Breech Tom Franklin · 2003
  2. Geronimo Rex Barry Hannah · 1972
  3. A Miracle of Catfish Larry Brown · 2007
  4. Southern Cross the Dog Bill Cheng · 2013

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America Mamie Till-Mobley, Christopher Benson · 2003
  2. Midnight Without a Moon Linda Williams Jackson · 2017
  3. A Wreath for Emmett Till Marilyn Nelson · 2005
  4. White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era Shelby Steele · 2006

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