Non-fiction book of the month: Gary Younge's Another Day in the Death of America

[SorchaMumsnet]

Our non-fiction Book of the Month for June is Another Day in the Death of America, Guardian journalist Gary Younge's very relevant and human account of gun violence in the US.

In the book, Younge portrays the lives and deaths of 10 American young people who were killed by guns in the space of 24 hours, and talks to the people (often the parents) who were affected. These intimate stories range from nine-year-old Jaiden, shot in suburban Ohio by his mother's ex-boyfriend, to 18-year-old Tyshon, killed in a gang-related incident in South Side Chicago.

Another Day in the Death of America is an emotive yet level-headed account of the impact of severely lacking gun control – on families, the safety of children worldwide, and cultural divisions in the US. It lays bare the open wound of gun violence for all to see, and proves to be both heart-shattering and compulsive reading.

You don't have to win a copy to share your thoughts about Another Day in the Death of America on this discussion thread. Gary will be answering your questions on the book and his work, so ask yours by Friday 28 July. We'll post his answers up in mid-August.

Buy the book on Amazon

@Daisymaybe60

Thank you for my copy. I read it in three sittings, and it was a compulsive read. Depressing and unbearably sad at times - how could it not be? - but always interesting and thought-provoking. I've a feeling this book will live with me. Some of the back stories of the boys who died are chilling. Several had tributes in their bedrooms or on their social media to good friends who'd lost their own lives to gun violence before them. Though there were no photographs of the lost boys, the pen portraits were so well drawn I could picture them clearly. The hint of peach fuzz, the skin like watered-down milk, the pout.

I'd like to ask Gary: If he were the US president, what one law would he bring in or change first to stem the flow of gun violence?

If there was one thing that would achieve that it would be getting rid of guns. It’s possible. Australia effectively did it after a single mass shooting in 1996. The US has had 244 mass shootings (though admittedly none as big) this year alone. But that would take a change in the constitution rather than just a change in law. As laws go I would provide free mental health care provision. Most people who are killed by guns kill themselves. At present the primary provider of health care in America is prisons. That’s clearly unsustainable in any event. But then to have so many lethal weapons available in a country where people cannot get mental health treatment is obviously going to leave a lot of vulnerable people potentially making people more vulnerable.

@voyager50

I have only read the first three chapters but the first one about the youngest victim, Jaidan, had me in tears.

It is going to be tough-going reading this but so far it is very insightful into the level of gun crime in the States and how it affects the loved ones of the victims.

Gary - I have just been reading about so many of the families believing gun deaths are as 'unfortunate' and understood as car accidents. I just can't get my head around this and the fact they don't believe controlling gun ownership would help. Why do you think this is?

Could it be that they have grown up around it and can't imagine there not being guns in the same way today's youngsters can't imagine life without mobile phones - it is just normal to them?

I have been very busy recently but I hope to read some more before the deadline for questions.

Basically your initial guess was right. I think it’s difficult to imagine something that is ubiquitous. There are people actively trying to imagine it all the time. But when they are so prevalent, it’s difficult to convince people that it’s not a utopian folly. And, as is the case with knives here, people start to carry them because they think other people are carrying them.

@voyager50

I have now read a couple more chapters and was surprised to find that two of the deaths so far have been accidents. It again makes it so shocking that children can get their hands on guns so easily with devasting consequences.

I have another question for Gary: Was it a concious decision not to show photos of the victims you wrote about or was it for legal reasons or for the sake of the families?

I wondered if it may also be so Americans reading it are more likely to picture it being their child instead if there is no visual images of the actual victim and that this maybe change the minds of those that are pro-gun.

I am very interested in reading your reply to this - thank you so much.

We wanted to publish the pictures. It would have been better if we did. But we couldn’t get agreement from enough of the parents to make it possible and, while the pictures were all available on line, there could have been a copyright issue. None of them said no. But many didn’t or wouldn’t get back to us. So we had to do without. That said I think there is something to what you suggest – the absence of the pictures forces the reader to use their imagination and therefore could encourage empathy. That wasn’t the intention. But it might have been the outcome for some readers

@barricade

Many thanks to Mumsnet for a copy of this book.

An incredibly well researched and sensitively written book illustrating the shocking impact of mindless gun violence on young American lives and their families. The book specifically narrates how the lives of 10 youngsters, all aged 18 and under, came to an abrupt end when they were gunned down, all within a random 24-hour period. Finding out in detail the circumstances that lead to the deaths of these young human beings proves to be harrowing reading. Some die due to an accident, some are targeted, but all their deaths are unnecessary, and without the availability of guns, all their deaths could and would have been prevented. And that is ultimately the point the author is making, how so many lives, and in particular young lives, are needlessly lost in America due the absence of stringent gun control laws. As a British citizen working in America, the author is an outsider looking in and seeing the obvious. The fact that anyone can easily purchase a gun almost anywhere in America. And the relative simplicity of children getting hold of guns being a palpable recipe for disaster.

The tragedy of the Dunblane school massacre had to happen before Britain woke up. However, despite the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, and countless, countless others, America continues to remain docile. And as much as we wish that books like this will lead to American policy makers to do something constructive (i.e. initiating a nationwide ban on guns) to tackle the problem, something tells us that it will continue to fall on deaf ears. It’s as if corporations like the NRA own America - what they say goes, and dare anyone think of standing up to them. But something has to give. And America needs courageous publications like this tackling the issue head on.

My question for author Gary Younge:- While researching this book, was there a fear that you would enter gang-territories and possibly put a target on your back for enquiring about and investigating the shootings? Or be subject to abuse for 'sticking your nose' in other people's personal circumstances?

It was a concern. Fortunately I’m not particularly brave I have kids myself and I’d like to see them grow old. And even if I didn’t I have no interest in putting myself in dangerous situations. The whole process was about gaining trust. So I would start with the person who I thought would be most open to hearing my intentions for the book. And then if I gained their trust I would ask if they could introduce me to others. And by way of introduction get as close as I could to anyone who knew the child involved. So when I did meet someone who might have a violent history, I would always come recommended by someone they knew. That seemed to work.

@burwellmum

This is such a sad and sobering book. I was grateful for my copy as to be honest it is not the sort of thing I would have picked up as a holiday read. Unfortunately I echo several others' comments that the people who need to read this book probably won't. It makes me very glad that I don't bring up my three sons in America - I know there are problems here and the recent acid attacks add a whole new area for concern but they seem as nothing compared to the US. I have some understanding of why and how guns became such a central part of US society but my question for Gary is principally what can be done now to change things?

There are some basic things that I lay out in the chapter on Tyler Dunn – smart gun technology so that only legitimate gun owners (and not kids or thieves) can fire guns and safe storage laws would make a big difference. Beyond that the main thing that would improve matters has already happened – following Sandy Hook prominent politicians, starting with President Obama, started to raise the gun control as an issue again. Prior to that they all, included Obama, would follow each mass shooting by essentially saying the same thing: “This is not a time for politics. Who knows what evil resides in the hearts of men? Let’s pray and hug our children.” So long as they wouldn’t raise it nothing could happen.
Now they see there is political capital in raising the broader issues. So while they weren’t successful in getting more gun control after Sandy Hook they have now laid the groundwork to make it possible.

Thanks so much for all the kind words about the book. It was a tough book to write. But with each family I met I became more and more compelled to write and report through the tragedy in the hope that putting a human face – a child’s face – on the issue might draw attention to the broader themes. I’m still in touch with many of the families. Some found it difficult to read the chapters about their own children but drew some solace from hearing of what others went through. And they find some reassurance in knowing that their child’s name is still out there, in the world, and not forgotten.

Thank you so much Gary for your answers - thank you for taking the time to reply to us all - it was very interesting reading.

I hope that one day soon guns become controlled in the States so that so many young lives aren't cut short by them.

Thanks from me too, Gary. I didn't know that Australia had brought in strict gun control after the 1996 shooting. That just shows what could be done - let's hope it is, one day.