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Leon Dash, Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her Family in Urban America (Basic Books, 1996) Reissued in paperback by Plume in 1997 Dash won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism before making what was originally a series of articles in The Washington Post into a full-length book. Dash spent several years immersed in Rosa Lee Cunningham's life, and that of her eight children (and their children), her hospital visits, her court dates and even took a trip to her ancestral shack in North Carolina. Dash is both a character and narrator in Rosa Lee's story. He is often a part of the action and occasionally editorializes about Rosa Lee's choices. Dash also throws in satistics and study findings to support his (obvious) thesis that poor, urban blacks are likely to continue the cycle of poverty, drug use, and crime in which their parent(s) raised them. Rosa Lee, a heroin-addicted grandmother by the time Dash meets her, is a multi-dimensional character and Dash renders her that way. His writing often lets Rosa Lee tell the reader who she is in dialogue or by retelling the stories Rosa Lee has confessed to Dash. Because the book takes us into places that few people have access to and then paints vivid pictures without overselling the desparation of its characters, Rosa Lee is an accomplishment in reporting. MORE: New York Times Review Learn more about the series |
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