John Safran
Auteur de Murder in Mississippi
A propos de l'auteur
John Safran is the author of Murder in Mississippi which made the finalist for the $30,000 Best Writing Award, presented for `a piece of published or produced work of outstanding clarity, originality and creativity by a Victorian writer¿. (Bowker Author Biography)
Crédit image: John Safran at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2009 Opening Night Red Carpet.
Œuvres de John Safran
Oeuvres associées
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom canonique
- Safran, John
- Nom légal
- Safran, John Michael
- Date de naissance
- 1972-08-13
- Sexe
- male
- Nationalité
- Australia
- Lieu de naissance
- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Lieux de résidence
- Balaclava, Victoria, Australia
- Études
- North Balwyn Primary School
Balwyn High School
Yeshivah College
RMIT University - Professions
- documentary filmmaker
broadcaster
non-fiction author - Courte biographie
- John Michael Safran is an Australian radio personality, satirist, documentary maker and author, known for combining humour with religious, political and ethnic issues. First gaining fame appearing in Race Around the World in 1997, Safran went on to produce a series of documentaries, television shows and host radio programs.
Membres
Critiques
Prix et récompenses
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 5
- Aussi par
- 2
- Membres
- 345
- Popularité
- #69,185
- Évaluation
- 3.5
- Critiques
- 17
- ISBN
- 21
As I said, the book is messy -- that is, a lot of it comes across as taken directly from Safran's notes; it's not edited or overly thematic like, say, that of Capote; and the difference between earlier true-crime works and those of the 21st century - where bureaucracy has more power to elude but social media threatens to devour the truth and make us all masters of our own narratives - sometimes obscures what really happened. Indeed, Safran walks away with only glimmers of insight.
Yet, "Murder in Mississippi" is ultimately a success. That's partly because self-avowed "Race Trekkie" Safran refuses to let the uneasy questions go unasked (and in this, his status as not just an outsider but a foreigner - and a Jewish one at that - makes things much easier, in some ways). But it's also because what we find in the killing of Richard Barrett is a nasty, nasty situation. Barrett was undoubtedly a loathsome man, but as we gradually realise, every impression of him was different - and some were determined not to see racism at all. And the killer, Vincent, is undoubtedly a victim of his society - yet it gradually becomes clear that for all his victimhood, the young man is also severely messed up. More to the point, as Safran's investigation takes in the wider community of Mississippi, he inadvertantly stumbles on much greater questions like: how much does it really take to bring about change? Integration may have been forced on these people by a Yankee government, but every page brings us to new areas of discrimination and petty power plays, a lot of it hidden between an awkward silence and a smile.
As a Melbournian myself, my response to many of the local issues is as bewildered as Safran's; if there are answers, I don't claim to know them. And that's ultimately what this book does well: it asks the questions and lets the murky haze of non-sequiturs hang there, illuminated for at least a moment by his flashlight.… (plus d'informations)