Beth Macy is the author of the widely acclaimed and bestselling books Truevine and Factory Man. Based in Roanoke, Virginia for three decades, her reporting has won more than a dozen national awards, including a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard.
A New York Times Notable Book of 2016 One of Janet Maslin's Top 10
Books of 2016 in the New York Times One of The San Francisco
Chronicle's Top Ten Books of 2016 One of the Best Books of 2016 -
Amazon, Kirkus, The Tampa Bay Times, The Houston Chronicle,
BookPage, St. Louis Post-Dispatch A Kirkus Prize Finalist
Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence A New York Times
Book Review Editors' Choice Named one of fall's most anticipated
titles by Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Kirkus, The Millions,
Literary Hub and others! "'It's the best story in town, ' a
colleague told Beth Macy decades ago, 'but no one has been able to
get it.' She now has, with tenacity and sensitivity. She gives a
singular sideshow its due, offering these 'Ambassadors from Mars' a
remarkable, deeply affecting afterlife."--Stacy Schiff, author of
The Witches
Praise for Factory Man A New York Times Notable Book of 2014 One of
Janet Maslin's Top 10 Books of 2014 in the New York Times One of
The Christian Science Monitor's Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2014 One
of Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2014: Nonfiction "In a class
with other runaway debuts like Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit" and
Katherine Boo's "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" These nonfiction
narratives are more stirring and dramatic than most novels. And Ms.
Macy writes so vigorously that she hooks you instantly. You won't
be putting this book down."--Janet Maslin, New York Times
"Truevine is a moving attempt to reconstruct this David and Goliath
story...If even "Eko and Iko" can be given back their stories,
there might be hope for us all."--Julian Lucas, The New
Republic
"Truevine...not only puts the real faces and lives of George and
Willie to the legend, but also speaks to the ongoing struggle for
racial justice in the United States."--Allison McNearney, Time
"'Truevine' is dominated by delight and triumph. Macy is a fine
Blue Ridge wit...She paints vivid portraits of wily, creative
minds...In a timely way, "Truevine" explodes the presumption that
moderns are less gullible than in an earlier era."--Jeff Calder,
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"[Macy] spent more than a decade following these trails in search
of facts.... what finally emerged is not only riveting, but
multi-layered."--Darrell Laurant, News & Advance
"A consummate chronicler of the American South spotlights the
extraordinary history of two kidnapped African-American brothers
enslaved as a circus sideshow act... Macy vividly illustrates
circus life during the 1920s, and she movingly depicts how the
brothers' protective, determined mother, Harriett, eventually
discovered and rescued them almost a decade and a half later... A
sturdy, passionate, and penetrating narrative. This first-rate
journey into human trafficking, slavery, and familial bonding is an
engrossing example of spirited, determined reportage."--Kirkus
(starred)
"A deeply moving and endlessly compelling book."--Alice Cary,
BookPage
"A fascinating history.... Macy puts their story into its larger
historical context, giving the reader an understanding of the
virulent, often violent racism of the Jim Crow era, which affected
the Muse family deeply."--Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times
"A story about family, race, and reclamation, Truevine is a
stunning example of why freedom and love is worth fighting
for."--Diana Potts, Signature, 8 Books That Honor History's Unsung
Female Heroes
"A testament to the strength and determination of those whose lives
were shaped by segregationist laws and the resulting deep
poverty."--Bob Kustra, The Idaho Statesman
"A truly remarkable work of researched narrative nonfiction, one
the probes every corner of its topic and values every subject who
has something to say.... Factory Man does justice to every hidden
corner of the story. It's a book that leaves you feeling better for
having read it."--Lucas Mann, San Francisco Chronicle
"A vivid and moving history that uncovers much more than
exploitation and racism."--Randy Dotinga, Christian Science
Monitor
"A well-crafted and epic tale.... Artfully told."--Marc Levinson,
The Wall Street Journal
"An entertaining, provocative, often moving search for the truth
about the brothers...Like "Factory Man," "Truevine" is rigorously
researched and skillfully written...she provides rich detail about
their lives...With empathetic storytelling, Macy raises questions
about the brothers and their world, questions that persist. As we
inch toward a forthright discussion of race in America brought on
by police violence, Black Lives Matter, immigration and a
mixed-race president, "Truevine" elicits self-examination."--Rob
Walker, Richmond Times-Dispatch
"An inarguable page-turner, Truevine is a fascinating and shocking
account of Jim Crow's legacy and America's strange (and often
brutal) past."--Dianca London, Lenny Letter
"An intimate, strange and compelling story with big characters and
legal intrigue... Macy shares infinite details in smooth, brilliant
storytelling."--Jennie Lay, Steamboat Today
"Beth Macy has a way of getting under the skin of American life,
burrowing into the seemingly ordinary to find the weird and
wonderful taproots of our society. This true tale from rural
Virginia will enrage you, inspire you, make you shake your head and
rear your fist. And as the pages keep turning, you'll feel yourself
slipping into a gothic world of freaks and geeks, and surreal
racial thinking, that seems both deeply strange and yet, sadly, all
too familiar."--Hampton Sides, author of In the Kingdom of Ice,
Blood and Thunder, and Americana
"Deep in circus history, beneath racist lies and family secrets,
[Macy] found a gripping tale of the cravenness of human nature--and
the power of family."--People
"Deeply reported and told with the kind of nuance and grace that
define Macy's storytelling. I have been a fan for a long
time...It's also just a remarkable story...Of a proud legacy, one
that should be told, and thankfully, by a gifted writer."--Maria
Carillo, The Houston Chronicle
"Expert...[Macy's] reportorial methods are inspiringly persistent
(and [her] books certainly bear that out)...you can feel Ms. Macy's
admiration wafting off the page."--Janet Maslin, New York Times
"Expert...[Macy] has done [Willie Muse's] life justice in a
riveting story that zigzags in unexpected directions...her
enthusiasm never lags...even in the worst circumstances, Ms. Macy
makes clear, the Muse brothers maintained their humanity."--Jeff
Baker, The Wall Street Journal
"Extraordinary... 'Truevine' is at once poignant and rigorous, a
compassionate dual biography and a forthright examination of
codified racism. Macy is a resourceful reporter and a strong but
never showy writer... This book, her second after 'Factory Man, '
is the work of a journalist whose persistence, empathy and
commitment to accuracy can't be doubted.... 'Truevine may focus on
events that began a century ago, but its guiding spirit couldn't be
more urgent."--Kevin Canfield, The San Francisco Chronicle
"If over a hundred years ago there had been Black Lives Matter, the
mother of George and Willie Muse would have joined and marched for
the safe return of her sons. Back then, almost a century ago, she
could only keep learning and finding folk who agreed she had a
right to her family...a right to the love and protection of her
sons. Beth Macy in Truevine has given us a stirring story of the
persistence of faith...the strength of love...in this tale of a
mother's journey to reclaim not only her sons but her right to
them."--Nikki Giovanni, poet and one of Oprah Winfrey's
"Twenty-five Living Legends"
"Intriguing, enlightening and multi-layered... In so diligently and
thoughtfully researching and writing this book, Macy has paid
tribute to George, Willie and Harriet, and ensured their life
stories have finally been accurately and fairly told."--Sharon
Chisvin, Winnipeg Free Press
"Laying out her decades of journalistic persistence, [Macy covers]
the uncomfortable aftermath that followed the boys' heroic rescue
by their mother."--Boris Kachka, Vulture
"Love and kinship impelled Harriet's family to try for a century to
protect George and Willie...from a world that saw them as objects
for exploitation. Macy, for her part, works hard to illuminate the
brothers' story...Macy is a gifted storyteller and a dogged
researcher, and readers will be riveted by her account of Harriet
Muse's struggle to find her sons."--Edward E. Baptist, New York
Times Book Review
"Macy earns a seat at the table of today's most accomplished
nonfiction storytellers... The tale of Willie and George Muse makes
for a spellbinding read."--Jeff Debell, Roanoke Times
"Macy's conscientious reporting (affirming the story's accuracy)
and her vigorous storytelling make the saga of George and Willie
Muse even more enthralling than fiction...Macy is as tender and
solicitous in telling their stories as she is in recovering, in
print, the dignity of a family broken apart by avarice and
injustice."--Gene Seymour, USA Today
"Macy's digging, and how she chronicles her effort to find the
truth... make 'Truevine' a true mystery that provides insight into
a long-gone world that still has echoes today."--Dale Singer, St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
"Macy's exploration of the long-hidden fate of two young African
Americans and how that fate illuminates the atrocities of the Jim
Crow South is as compelling as Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life
of Henrietta Lacks...both are absolutely stunning examples of
narrative nonfiction at its best...Certain to be among the most
memorable books of the year."--Connie Fletcher, Booklist (starred
review)
"Nonfiction storytelling at its finest.... It does what the best
business books should: It delivers a heavily researched, highly
entertaining story, at the end of which you realize you've learned
something.... This is a great American story, the kind that we
don't read often enough."--Bryan Burrough, New York Times
"One of my favorite nonfiction books of the
season...fascinating."--Joan Grenier, WAMC's "The Roundtable"
"One of my favorite works of nonfiction of 2016...Macy nails
it."--Vick Mickunas, WYSO "Book Nook"
"Taking us into the dark corners of American history that are
discussed only in whispers, Beth Macy shines a bright light on the
racial profiteering of circus freak shows and the Jim Crow South.
In the remarkable Truevine, Macy manages to do what all the
exploitative showmen wouldn't dare; she humanizes the Muse
brothers, and in doing so, she has written an unforgettable story
of both heartbreak and enduring love."--Gilbert King, author of
Devil in the Grove
"The author's brightly written, richly detailed narrative not only
illuminates globalization and the issue of offshoring, but succeeds
brilliantly in conveying the human costs borne by low-income people
displaced from a way of life.... A masterly feat of
reporting."--Kirkus (starred review)
"This compelling account of one family's tragic exploitation
provides an important lens through which America's tortured racial
history and the cruel legacy of Jim Crow can be seen anew."--Bryan
Stevenson, author of Just Mercy and founder and director of the
Equal Justice Initiative
"Truevine serves as a primer about racial inequality that all
Americans should read."--Marilyn Smith of Kepler's, Literary
Hub
"While it was clearly no picnic, Macy portrays life in a circus
sideshow as a community experience that could provide emotional
support, protection - and a living - to those who might otherwise
have been ostracized or locked away."--Susan Linnee,
StarTribune
"You may find yourself wanting the tale of the Muse brothers to
emerge as a simple tale of inhumanity and injustice. There's a
certain satisfaction in that. But the story is too thorny and
complicated for that approach, and Macy, whose last book was the
New York Times bestseller 'Factory Man, ' does us the favor of
respecting that complexity."--Chris Vognar, The Dallas Morning
News
An "impeccably reported tale"--Tina Jordan & Isabella Biedenharn,
Entertainment Weekly
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