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Killers of the Dream Paperback – July 17, 1994

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Lillian Smith (Author)
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Lillian Smith (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 30 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reissue edition (July 17, 1994)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0393311600
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393311600
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsIncredible insight
By Dawn D. Bennett Alexander on March 4, 2006
Format: 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.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe Ghost of the South or the Ghost of America?
By Herbert L Calhoun on December 30, 2002
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
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.
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5.0 out of 5 starsA must-read for understanding American History
By A Customer on July 6, 1999
Format: 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.
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5.0 out of 5 starsA Profound, Engaging, and Courageous Social History - and Hope for the Future
By Daniel L. Berek on January 10, 2007
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Upon reading the very first page, I knew I had a very special book in my hands. This is one of the most beautifully written and insightful books I have ever read, with an honesty and moral awareness one would find in the writings of Robert Coles.

Part One, "The Dreamers" chronicles Ms. Smith's life, as well as what she observed of the South as a Southerner herself.

Part Two, "The White Man's Burden," Ms. Smith explains how segregation shuts out not only blacks, but also whites.

Part Three, "Giants of the Earth," discusses how the powers to be, men in politics and business leaders, created the current situtation of segregation in the South and the reasons they wish to maintain the status quo.

Part Four, "The Dream and Its Killers," explores how the very future of humanity, "the Dream," depends on a willingness to embrace positive change and challenge those aspects of the status quo that aim to keep that from happening.
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5.0 out of 5 stars"But, sometimes, that killer of dreams is in us...
By John P. Jones III VINE VOICE on March 4, 2011
Format: Paperback
...and we do not know how to rid ourselves of it." I first read this book in the `60's, while I was in college in Atlanta, and the old order of racial segregation collapsed. The book was a present from a friend at Spellman College, with numerous passages highlighted for my benefit, or perhaps anyone's. Lillian Smith, a white Southerner, performed a most critical analysis of the "southern system," following with a far more personal touch what had been completed a decade or so prior, by a foreigner, Gunnar Myrdal, in An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (Black and African-American Studies) Volume 1. She could, since she had the ability to relate how she was socialized into accepting this system as the "normal" way individuals should relate. She concludes this excellent work with the subject quote.

Lo' after even these many years I still vividly recalled one chapter in this book in particular, and it required a revisit, due to recent events in the news, specifically the attacks on Public Service unions by various state governors, which are supported by a certain segment of the population, currently going by the rubric, "The Tea Party." The chapter in Smith's book is entitled: "Two Men and a Bargain." She tells it in the form of a parable, and the two men are Mr. Poor White and Mr. Rich White. The bargain was summed up by Ms. Smith in the agreement promoted by Mr. Rich White: "Suppose now you take over the thing you can do and let me take over the thing I can do. You boss the n-----, and I'll boss the money." The author continues: "...Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe Unspoken Story
By Glen H. Cannon on March 2, 2000
Format: Paperback
The lucid and careful telling of Ms Smith's story is a great contributions to understanding our time and place. The hidden issues of race and injustice continue to plague our country. So much of it seems incomprehensible because it is wrapped in Christian Theology. Ms Smith reveals the secrets that keep the evil and pain alive.
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4.0 out of 5 starsA Southern Confession
By Olivia P. Guthrie on April 23, 2009
Format: Paperback
Lillian Smith's book is amazing considering that it was written in 1947 well before the Civil Rights era and before African American voices were heard by the white community. She starts by telling us the problems children had in separating what they were taught at home and at church with the reality of segregation in which all black people were considered inferior to them. God created us equal but not too equal. I am a Californian who has lived in the South for 16 years; I have been trying all that time to understand the Southern perspective and have found this book to be a real help in understanding a part of our country who. we know, suffered in a way the North never suffered after the Civil War and into the 20th Century,but still could never admit they were wrong about the war or that slavery and later segregation was evil.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Very Insightful!! The past definitely informs the present. Cleverly written.

Published 7 days ago by Michael O. Forney
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great Read! Beautiful writing - almost seems poetic at times.

Published 20 days ago by Rick
5.0 out of 5 starsForced to buy this for school

I hate this book but I bought this for school. Came on time and is as advertised.

Published 5 months ago by Jo Nah
5.0 out of 5 starsA remarkable woman

Lillian Smith ought to be a household name. Do yourself a favor and learn about this remarkable woman who was so ahead of her time she put her own safety at great risk to speak... Read more

Published 12 months ago by Blake
5.0 out of 5 starsHelpful in Understanding Southern Culture and Cultural History

The author grew up white, in Florida in the 20s so that's the culture she describes, but it's probably fair to say that some of what she articulates could also be found in... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Mary Z Kohak
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

A wonderful find and purchase of this classic piece of literature through this Amazon vendor!! (8-D=

Published 18 months ago by Cecil Brown
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

I am enjoying the book. Thanks

Published 19 months ago by strawbaby
5.0 out of 5 starsRelevant today. A great portrait of culture.

The South has changed since Smith wrote the book but not in its core. This book should be read by every soutgern child.

Published 20 months ago by Ernest Craige Jr.
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat!

Great!

Published 23 months ago by Whiteboy
5.0 out of 5 starsIn the tradition of Southern story-telling, Lillian Smith offers ...

In the tradition of Southern story-telling, Lillian Smith offers her childhood memories and allegories that expose the degradation racial segregation caused for all people - Black... Read more

Published on September 4, 2014 by christine schmidt

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