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  • Published: 25 September 2013
  • ISBN: 9781742535753
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 383
Categories:

Murder in Mississippi

winner of the Ned Kelly Award for best true crime





Murder in Mississippi is a brilliantly innovative true-crime story. Taking us places only he can, Safran paints an engrossing, revealing portrait of a dead man, his murderer, the place they lived and the process of trying to find out the truth about anything.

The internationally acclaimed true-crime story you have to read to believe.


WINNER OF THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST TRUE CRIME

'... informative, frightening and hilarious.' John Berendt

'... absolutely magnificent – smart, and wry, and emotional too' Caroline Overington

When filming his TV series Race Relations, John Safran spent an uneasy couple of days with one of Mississippi's most notorious white supremacists. A year later, he heard that the man had been murdered – and what was more, the killer was black.

At first the murder seemed a twist on the old Deep South race crimes. But then more news rolled in. Maybe it was a dispute over money, or most intriguingly, over sex. Could the infamous racist actually have been secretly gay, with a thing for black men? Did Safran have the last footage of him alive? Could this be the story of a lifetime? Seizing his Truman Capote moment, he jumped on a plane to cover the trial.

Over six months, Safran got deeper and deeper into the South, becoming entwined in the lives of those connected with the murder – white separatists, black campaigners, lawyers, investigators, neighbours, even the killer himself. And the more he talked with them, the less simple the crime, and the world, seemed.

Murder in Mississippi is a brilliantly innovative true-crime story. Taking us places only he can, Safran paints an engrossing, revealing portrait of a dead man, his murderer, the place they lived and the process of trying to find out the truth about anything.
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PRAISE FOR MURDER IN MISSISSIPPI

'The elegance of this book is that its axis is a resounding 'perhaps' . . . It is this moral ambivalence that draws readers to the true crime genre, and Safran nails it' Weekend Australian
'Mississippi is like a trampoline for [Safran's] eccentricities. But the form and content of the story bring out an unfamiliar side of him' Sydney Morning Herald
'A winning combination of memoir, true crime and gonzo journalism . . . a compulsive summer read' Sunday Mail
'Funny and gripping and wonderfully weird . . . It's a tremendous book. I can't praise it too highly' Louis Theroux

'Witty, insightful, compelling – In Cold Blood for our generation' Eddie Perfect

'[Safran] has written a marvellous book which I cannot put down' Melbourne Observer
'Now I know what to recommend people who liked Them' Jon Ronson

'Stunning' Men's Style

  • Published: 25 September 2013
  • ISBN: 9781742535753
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 383
Categories:

About the author

John Safran

John Safran is a Melbourne writer and filmmaker. His book Puff Piece, exploring Big Tobacco and vaping, was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. His debut, Murder in Mississippi, won the Ned Kelly Award for Best True Crime. His latest documentary, Who The Bloody Hell Are We?, looking at the secret history of Australia, was nominated for an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts award. His first two television series John Safran’s Music Jamboree and John Safran vs God won the Academy’s comedy awards. Squat is his fourth book published by Penguin Random House.

Also by John Safran

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Awards & recognition

Ned Kelly Awards

Winner  •  2014  •  Best True Crime

Australian Book Industry Awards

Shortlisted  •  2014  •  General Non-Fiction Book of the Year

Indie Award

Shortlisted  •  2014  •  Non-Fiction

Melbourne Prize for Literature

Shortlisted  •  2015  •  Best Writing Award