Overview
In 1959 a white writer darkened his skin and passed for a time as a "Negro" in the Deep South. John Howard Griffin was that writer, and his book Black Like Me swiftly became a national sensation. Few readers know of the extraordinary journey that led to Griffin's risky "experiment" - the culmination of a lifetime of risk, struggle, and achievement. A native of Texas, Griffin was a medical student who became involved in the rescue of Jews in occupied France; a U.S. serviceman among tribal peoples in the South Pacific, where he suffered an injury that left him blinded for a decade; a convert to Catholicism; and, finally, a novelist and writer. All these experiences fed Griffin's drive to understand what it means to be human, and how human beings can justify treating their fellows - of whatever race or physical description - as "the intrinsic other." After describing this journey and analyzing the text of Black Like Me, Robert Bonazzi treats the dramatic aftermath of Griffin's experiment and life. Man in the Mirror provides a fascinating look at the roots of a book that galvanized America, and offers reflections on why, after all these years, this work retains its astonishing impact.Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
In 1959, John Howard Griffin, a white man, chemically altered the color of his skin to become a black man, and entered black society in the Deep South so that he could experience firsthand the harshness and prejudice of segregation. His book, Black Like Me, described his experiences to an audience that was fascinated by the sensational aspects of his journey. At the heart of Griffin's experience, however, was a deeply spiritual notion that we see in all human beings our "intrinsic other." Bonazzi, who was close to Griffin, here traces the journey of John Howard Griffin from his early life through the aftermath of the publication of Black Like Me. Through interviews and close readings of Black Like Me, a portrait of Griffin as a compassionate man deeply committed to social justice through love emerges. In the first section of the book, Bonazzi explores Griffin's life to show that his background in a racist family and community in Texas militated against his journey toward justice. But, through his years as a student in Paris as well as through his own physical blindness, Griffin became a man who worked tirelessly, though primarily through his writings, for racial justice. In the final section of the book, Bonazzi uses Griffin's letters, novels and journals to show how deeply his Catholic faith, particularly his long friendship with Thomas Merton, informed his vision of himself as a priest to others through his writings. While Bonazzi's book gives a fascinating portrait of an important personality in American history, his style of piling quotation upon quotation makes for tiresome reading. (Sept.)Kirkus Reviews
An earnest, adulatory discussion of the classic exposé of racism and the memorable life of its author, John Howard Griffin.Bonazzi, who published some of Griffin's writings at his Latitudes Press and is possibly the world's only Griffin scholar, deserves credit for explaining, albeit briefly, the fascinating events that shaped Griffin's character as a crusader against racism. Born in Dallas in 1920, Griffin extricated himself from his provincial surroundings by writing to a boys' school in Tours, France, and receiving a full scholarship at age 15. He stayed in France for the next six years, first at school and then, after the Nazi occupation, working with the Resistance to help save Jews. A stint in the air force brought him into contact with Solomon Islanders, dashing what few southern preconceptions about white superiority he still harbored; and a bombardment blinded him for ten years. Back home, he converted to Catholicism and wrote a bestselling novel, The Devil Rides Outside. In 1959, he hit on the idea of darkening his skin and touring the Deep South disguised as a black man for a magazine series that became Black Like Me, published in 1961 to wide acclaim. The bulk of Bonazzi's tome is a summary of that work, with copious quotes from Griffin's own words, which remind one of just how skillful a prose stylist he was. Bonazzi's glosses tend merely to rephrase clumsily what Griffin has just been quoted saying with perfect clarity. In quoting from other of Griffin's works and playing up his intellectually rigorous Catholicism (he was friends with Thomas Merton and Jacques Maritain), Bonazzi places Black Like Me within a lifelong quest to understand and share with others his religious ideals of humanitarianism and mercy.
Still, readers will probably be sorely tempted to toss this aside and go straight to Black Like Me to get the insights without the interruptions.