The first and most basic lesson of genealogy is to talk to your family. Eubanks (Ever Is a Long Time) interviewed his mother to start to learn about his grandparents, Edna and Jim Richardson, an interracial couple who married, lived together, and raised a family in rural Alabama in the first years of the 20th century. While Eubanks begins by seeking his grandparents' motivations and their methods for subverting societal norms, his memoir eventually broadens to a thoughtful (though still personal) exploration of the construction of race and racial identity, particularly within families that cross the color line. He considers thought-provoking questions like the potential for communication between black and white family members. Eubanks concludes, among other things, that while his own generation threw off the yoke of segregation partly by forging a proud black self-identity, his children seem to see race as a tangible but uninteresting social fact—and to them, race is far less compelling than questions of justice and fairness. VERDICT Highly recommended, especially for memoir readers or patrons interested in thoughtful and personal considerations of race.—Emily-Jane Dawson, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR
Eubanks pieces together this intricate story across three generations of his family, and in turn sheds powerful new light on the complex story of race and identity in these United States. A pleasure to read, a poignant American story not to be missed. — Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps
Eubanks’s grandparents created an interracial family in rural Alabama nearly a century ago. Now he has taken his family’s story and used it to explore our changing AMerican ideas about what to make of our ancestries. His work should inspire all of us to think anew about our country. — K. Anthony Appiah, Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy, Princeton University
Eubanks writes with a novelist’s sense of story and a poet’s eye for language and detail. Most important, though, he writes with sensitivity, understanding, and Socratic wisdom. This is not just an important book for these timse—it’s a book for all time. — Steve Yarbrough, author of Prisoners of War
PRAISE FOR EVER IS A LONG TIME: “A gift to everyone who reads it, a book that is at once a touching family memoir and an attempt—successful—to come to terms with the author’s past.... It is, in all respects, an exemplary and admirable piece of work.” — Washington Post
“Compelling...by turns a charming remembrance of a rural childhood and a chilling reminder of racism’s legacy.” — BookPage
“Eubank’s memoir is written in clear, accessible prose...his straightforward manner makes the emotional issues and difficult memories all the more poignant.” — The Sun Herald
“Ralph Eubanks’s Mississippi detective story wrapped in a memoir is a remarkable journey back to the civil rights future. This wistful little book holds a significance as rich as Delta loam.” — David Levering Lewis, author of WEB DU BOIS: The Fight for Equality and the American Century
Eubanks pieces together this intricate story across three generations of his family, and in turn sheds powerful new light on the complex story of race and identity in these United States. A pleasure to read, a poignant American story not to be missed.
Eubank’s memoir is written in clear, accessible prose...his straightforward manner makes the emotional issues and difficult memories all the more poignant.
PRAISE FOR EVER IS A LONG TIME: “A gift to everyone who reads it, a book that is at once a touching family memoir and an attempt—successful—to come to terms with the author’s past.... It is, in all respects, an exemplary and admirable piece of work.
Ralph Eubanks’s Mississippi detective story wrapped in a memoir is a remarkable journey back to the civil rights future. This wistful little book holds a significance as rich as Delta loam.
Eubanks’s grandparents created an interracial family in rural Alabama nearly a century ago. Now he has taken his family’s story and used it to explore our changing AMerican ideas about what to make of our ancestries. His work should inspire all of us to think anew about our country.
Eubanks writes with a novelist’s sense of story and a poet’s eye for language and detail. Most important, though, he writes with sensitivity, understanding, and Socratic wisdom. This is not just an important book for these timse—it’s a book for all time.
Compelling...by turns a charming remembrance of a rural childhood and a chilling reminder of racism’s legacy.
PRAISE FOR EVER IS A LONG TIME: “A gift to everyone who reads it, a book that is at once a touching family memoir and an attempt—successful—to come to terms with the author’s past.... It is, in all respects, an exemplary and admirable piece of work.
