Killers of the Dream [Paperback]

Lillian Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 1994

A Southern white writer, educator, and activist, Lillian Smith (1897–1966) spoke out all her life against injustice. In Killers of the Dream (1949), her most influential book, she draws on memories of her childhood to describe the psychological and moral cost of the powerful, contradictory rules about sin, sex, and segregation—the intricate system of taboos—that undergirded Southern society.

Published to wide controversy, it became the source (acknowledged or unacknowledged) of much of our thinking about race relations and was for many a catalyst for the civil rights movement. It remains the most courageous, insightful, and eloquent critique of the pre-1960s South.

"I began to see racism and its rituals of segregation as a symptom of a grave illness," Smith wrote. "When people think more of their skin color than of their souls, something has happened to them." Today, readers are rediscovering in Smith's writings a forceful analysis of the dynamics of racism, as well as her prophetic understanding of the connections between racial and sexual oppression.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (July 17, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393311600
• ISBN-13: 978-0393311600
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Travel > United States > Regions > South

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for understanding American History, July 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Killers of the Dream (Paperback)

I had a History professor who assigned this book for reading no matter what course he was teaching. I didn't understand why until several years after I finshed college. Ms. Smith describes the "ghosts" of the consciousness of the American south, the mythical fears that separate the races, in a way that is literate, poetic and unflinching. If you want to understand the history of the South, this book will fill in the gaps for you.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible insight, March 4, 2006

By 

Dawn D. Bennett Alexander (Athens, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killers of the Dream (Paperback)

I'd give it more than five stars if it was possible. What a courageous woman to have published this in 1949! I am so glad it was re-issued in 1994!!!! Smith provides insights on, and discusses in depth, things that are basic underpinnings of race relations in this country, but are rarely mentioned. The book is a must for anyone trying to gain insight into the foundations of white privilege and its implications, as well as improving race relations. An absolutely *incredible* book.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ghost of the South or the Ghost of America?, December 30, 2002

By 

Herbert L Calhoun "paulocal" (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Killers of the Dream (Paperback)

Ms. Smith's honesty and eloquence in telling a profoundly American story about the perfidy of the South of her childhood is a literary tour de force about an immensely important slice of American history. It is a profoundly American tragedy fashioned from the most basic of human materials, human fallibilities, many of which still consume us as Americans--black or white, north or south. This book is the most sombering account of who we Americans are--as opposed to who we wished we were--anyone is likely to ever encounter. Unfortunately, since her death, Ms. Smith's story of about race, sex, religion, politics, economics and deception in the south has become the American way of life, writ large.