'Devastating' J. M. Coetzee, Winner of the Man Booker Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature

THE STORY OF A YOUNG MAN'S COMING OF AGE A TENDER TRIBUTE TO A LIFE LOST A DEVASTATING ANALYSIS OF A BROKEN SYSTEM

Aged 15 and living in LA, Michael Allen was arrested for a botched carjacking. He was tried as an adult and sentenced to thirteen years behind bars. After growing up in prison Michael was then released aged 26, only to be murdered three years later.

In this deeply personal yet clear-eyed memoir, Danielle Allen reconstructs her cousins life to try and understand how this tragedy was the end result. We become intimate with Michaels experience, from his first steps to his first love, and with the events of his arrest, his coming of age in prison, and his attempts to make up for lost time after his release. We learn what its like to grow up in a city carved up by invisible gang borders; and we learn how a generation has been lost.

With breathtaking bravery and intelligence,Cuzcircles around its subject, viewing it from all angles to expose a shocking reality. The result is both a personal and analytical view of a life that wields devastating power.

This is the new American tragedy.

Danielle Allenis the Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, professor in Harvards Department of Government and Graduate School of Education, Chair of the Mellon Foundation Board, past Chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Allen is a political theorist who has published broadly in democratic theory, political sociology, and the history of political thought and is widely known for her work on justice and citizenship in both ancient Athens and modern America.

She is a frequent public lecturer and regular guest on public radio to discuss issues of citizenship, as well as an occasional contributor on similar subjects to theWashington Post,Boston Review,Democracy,Cabinet, andThe Nation.