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A lesson before dying Cover Image Book

A lesson before dying / Ernest J. Gaines.

Gaines, Ernest J., 1933-2019 (author.).

Summary:

In his first novel in ten years, Ernest Gaines, the highly acclaimed author of the best-selling The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, brings us a wrenching story of death and identity in a small Cajun Louisiana community in the late 1940s. A young black named Jefferson is a reluctant party in a shoot-out in a liquor store in which the three other men involved are all killed, including the white store owner. Jefferson, the only survivor, is accused of murder. At the trial, the essence of the defense is that the accused, a lowly form of existence lacking even a modicum of intelligence, is incapable of premeditated murder. His lawyer argues: "Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this." But Jefferson is condemned to death.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780375702709
  • ISBN: 0375702709
  • ISBN: 0679414770
  • ISBN: 9780679414773
  • ISBN: 0679455612
  • ISBN: 9780679455615
  • Physical Description: 256 pages ; 23 cm.
  • Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

Content descriptions

General Note:
Publisher, dates, and paging may vary.
Target Audience Note:
750L Lexile
Study Program Information Note:
Accelerated Reader AR UG 4.4 11.0 10287.
Accelerated Reader AR UG 4.4 11 10287.

Search for related items by subject

Subject:
African American men > Fiction.
Death row inmates > Fiction.
Race relations > Fiction.
Friendship > Fiction.
Friendships.
Louisiana > Fiction.
Genre:
Historical fiction.
Novels.

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Available copies

  • 84 of 88 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Madison County Public Library.

Holds

  • 1 current hold with 88 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Madison Main Library FIC GAI (Text) 30229000061449 Adult Fiction Available -

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MARC Record

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24512. ‡aA lesson before dying / ‡cErnest J. Gaines.
264 1. ‡aNew York : ‡bAlfred A. Knopf, ‡c1994.
264 4. ‡c©1993
300 . ‡a256 pages ; ‡c23 cm.
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500 . ‡aPublisher, dates, and paging may vary.
520 . ‡aIn his first novel in ten years, Ernest Gaines, the highly acclaimed author of the best-selling The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, brings us a wrenching story of death and identity in a small Cajun Louisiana community in the late 1940s. A young black named Jefferson is a reluctant party in a shoot-out in a liquor store in which the three other men involved are all killed, including the white store owner. Jefferson, the only survivor, is accused of murder. At the trial, the essence of the defense is that the accused, a lowly form of existence lacking even a modicum of intelligence, is incapable of premeditated murder. His lawyer argues: "Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this." But Jefferson is condemned to death.
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