The Other Side of the River [Hardcover]

Alex Kotlowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 1998

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The author of There Are No Children Here follows up that magnificent effort with the gripping story of a mysterious death in southwest Michigan. A black teenager surfaces in the St. Joseph River, drowned. How did he get there? The towns of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, divided by both race and the river, grapple with the possibilities in this maddeningly difficult case. Alex Kotlowitz puts his sharp reporting skills to good work here, describing in detail everything that is known about Eric McGinnis's short life and untimely death. But the book is best at plumbing the racial psychology of these mutually suspicious communities. The Other Side of the River has that can't-put-it-down quality found in the best narrative nonfiction, and it speaks to issues affecting all of America.

From School Library Journal

YA-An engrossing story of an unsolved crime that YAs will find both readable and fascinating. Although a murder mystery, this is really an in-depth examination of American attitudes toward race. The story is set in two small lake towns in Michigan that are separated by a narrow river and a wide range of conflicting opinions, fears, and emotions. A black teenager, Eric McGinnis, was found floating in the St. Joseph River in May 1991. When last seen, he was running down a street in the predominantly white town of St. Joseph. He had crossed the river that evening from 95% black Benton Harbor to attend a teen club with friends. Whatever happened afterward caused endless speculation on both sides of the river and old fears and assumptions surfaced. Many in Benton Harbor thought he had been pushed to his death by whites angered because was dating white girls. In St. Joseph, the Benton Harbor gangs were blamed. As the author investigated this multifaceted case, he looked at over 200 people and many different motives. The aspects of this baffling case are presented with sensitivity and impartiality, and while local atmosphere and nuances are accurate, these towns could be anywhere in America. A book that will make readers examine their own convictions about the troubling issue of race in our country.
Catherine Noonan, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Nan A. Talese; 1st edition (January 5, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385477201
• ISBN-13: 978-0385477208
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,486,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ALEX KOTLOWITZ, a former staff writer at the Wall Street Journal, has won the George Foster Peabody Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the George Polk Award, and the Thurgood Marshall Award. His work has appeared in numerous publications including the New Times Magazine, Atlantic, New Yorker, and NPR's This American Life, All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Frontline. He is the author of Never a City So Real, The Other Side of the River, and the national bestseller There Are No Children Here.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Resident's Perspective, April 28, 2005

By 

D. Plante "Former Resident" (St. Joseph, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma (Paperback)

I grew up in St. Joseph, Michigan. While it would be difficult for any author who is not a resident to capture the sentiment of a community in which he did not live, I think Mr. Kotlowitz's attempts to understand the differences between St. Joseph and Benton Harbor are well-intended. To be sure this book has its faults and biases (as do both cities in the book), but overall I felt it captured the striking differences on both sides of the river (though not the subtle similarities). It was, at times, uncomfortable for me to read such an analysis of my home town - especially when recognizing some of the names. But this was a good read.

I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about how a community (and yes St. Joseph/Benton Harbor make up 1 community, not 2) can divide itself. In this case, the division was an easy one to recognize - a river and two races.

This book certainly had a impact on me. Being about my home, I felt obligated to read this - and am glad I did. I can't say whether ot not it would have the same impact on those who have not lived in these cities, but it does provide an interesting light on lingering suspicions.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It Will Make You Think!, January 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma (Paperback)

As a resident of Benton Harbor, I read with great interest Alex Kotlowitz's "The Other Side of the River". As a white person who spent my entire childhood in Stevensville (the community directly adjacent to St. Joseph), was educated there, was insulated there, and who was influenced by the subtle but constant undercurrent of racism there... only to find myself moving to the "other side" of the river for the last 16 years, I can tell you that Alex Kotlowitz absolutely captured the state of race relations in and around the "Twin Cities"... and probably most of the country. The author does not climb up on a soapbox, agenda in hand, and tell the reader what they should think. Instead, he lets the facts speak for themselves. The result that this book has caused many in the white St. Joseph community to go howling in protest, railing against this "unfair" portrayal, only goes to show that bare facts apparently don't leave much cover for those who would like to hide their fear, loathing, and head-in-the-sand refusal to believe there's a problem, behind a pretty tourist brochure facade. Painfully even-handed, the book does not exactly paint a pretty picture of either the white OR the black communities involved. Rather, it offers a map of several incidents and betrayals that have led these two towns to such a sorry state. That there can be no real conclusion to this book leaves the reader to think about their own prejudices and assumptions. It also leads you to wonder if there can ever be a conclusion to the race problems in our country as a whole... which is perhaps at least a first step to getting there -- just THINKING about it at all! I do wish Alex Kotlowitz would return to the area and look into the community of Fairplain - the only truly integrated area between the two towns. How does this community survive? Because it is made up of working people, all of the same basic socio-economic make-up? Because the people have adopted a "live & let live" attitude? Or because they know the problems of either side of the river, and have tried to make a place where they may not live like kings, but at least they're allowed to live with some dignity. Do read "The Other Side of the River". It will make you think!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A true depiction of racial tension in an American microcosm, July 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Other Side of the River (Hardcover)

I am a white resident of St. Joseph, Michigan. . .a transplant, not a native. We moved here in June 1991, just as the Eric McGinnis story hit the headlines. I was outraged by what I read in the papers about it then and the rumors I heard around "White St. Joe," not because I believed he had been lynched, but because the bigotry and misunderstanding on both sides of the river were so apparent. And now comes this book by a distinguished author. . .let me tell you, St. Joseph residents on the whole were not happy about what he wrote. However, it is accurate from what I have read, heard, and know, with only a couple of insignificant errors which don't affect the story. I'm glad I finally read Kotlowitz's book, because it caused quite a stir around here and has really made the townsfolk reevalute racial relations, in spite of their bellyaching. And I believe it should be mandatory reading for every resident in both of these monotone hamlets. I can never cross the river again without thinking of Eric, imagining him struggling against the currents, and thinking of the symbolism of that image.