{"product_id":"9781611178821","title":"The Vain Conversation","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn engrossing novel based on the true story of the 1946 lynching of two black couples in Georgia\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eInspired by true events, \u003ci\u003eThe Vain Conversation\u003c\/i\u003e reflects on the 1946 lynching of two black couples in Georgia from the perspectives of three characters—Bertrand Johnson, one of the victims; Noland Jacks, a presumed perpetrator; and Lonnie Henson, a witness to the murders as a ten-year-old boy. Lonnie's inexplicable feelings of culpability drive him in a search for meaning that takes him around the world, and ultimately back to Georgia, where he must confront Jacks and his own demons, with the hopes that doing so will free him from the grip of the past.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Vain Conversation,\u003c\/i\u003e Anthony Grooms seeks to advance the national dialogue on race relations. With complexity, satire, and sometimes levity, he explores what it means to redeem, as well as to be redeemed, on the issues of America's race violence and speaks to the broader issues of oppression and violence everywhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA foreword is provided by American poet, painter, and novelist Clarence Major. An afterward is written by T. Geronimo Johnson, the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eWelcome to Braggsville\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHold It 'Til It Hurts.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of South Carolina Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47031520395504,"sku":"9781611178821","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781611178821_p0.jpg?v=1763844809","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781611178821","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}