NPR

'An American Summer' Presents The Human Side Of Gun Violence In Chicago

Alex Kotlowitz's new book amplifies the words of those who have witnessed tragedy and makes their experiences available to readers — a chronicle that is painful but also necessary.
<em>An American Summer: Love And Death In Chicago</em>, by Alex Kotlowitz

In An American Summer, the reader is asked to ponder this: "In a good year in Chicago, roughly 2,000 people get wounded by gun fire, or five people a day, give or take. Some years the number has risen to over 4,000, or roughly one person every two hours."

Writer and filmmaker Alex Kotlowitz knows this. He has written about Chicago for most of his career. His book , which chronicles the lives of two boys struggling to survive in Chicago's

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
Tiny Desk Contest Fan Favorite: nobigdyl.
Last week, we asked fans what their favorite entry from this year's Tiny Desk Contest was — and 10,000 of you voted. We're excited to share that the winner of our Fan Favorite vote is "Go With The Ghost" by nobigdyl.! The band, which is based in Murf
NPR6 min read
A New Face, And New Chapter, In R&B's Unstoppable Rap Makeover
Dallas singer 4batz rose from obscurity to a breathlessly awaited debut in barely a year — but his arrival is part of a tense exchange between hip-hop and R&B more than a decade in the making.
NPR3 min read
FTX Says It Will Return Money To Most Of Its Customers
FTX says that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded, and some will get more than that.

Related Books & Audiobooks