Books by Anthony Grooms

Anthony Grooms, 2006

These twelve stories, set in various places and at various times in the American South, tell about the dilemmas and contradictions of ordinary black Americans as they confront the ambiguities of the Civil Rights Movement and its legacy. The rhythmic speech of the streets, the black church and the family reveal everyday dramas, both public and intimate, humorous and sad. Visit Alabama Aloud podcast to listen to some of the stories.

Anthony Grooms, 2002

In his barracks, Walter Burke is trying to write a letter to the parents of a fallen soldier, an Alabama man who died in a muddy rice paddy. But all he can think of is his childhood friend, Lamar, the friend with whom he first experienced the fury of violence, on the streets of Brimingham, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The juxtaposition is so powerful—between war-torn Vietnam and the terror-filled “Bombingham”—that he is drawn back to the summer that would see his transition from childish wonder at the world to his certain knowledge of his place in it. Reviewing for the Washington Post, critic Jabari Asim wrote, "In its insistence that 'the world is a tumultuous place and every soul in it suffers,' this powerful, resonant novel offers no consolations. Grooms offers consolation, however, in allowing us to be present at the emergence of a brave and promising talent, fully equipped to take on the writer's task of confronting chaos and wrestling it into form."

Anthony Grooms, 2023

Witness to a multiple lynching in 1946, Lonnie Henson is compelled to understand the brutal crime and investigate his own culpability. Set in Georgia and drawn from real events, the novel imagines the murders from the perspectives of both the victims and the perpetrators, and depicts the conversation in which all Americans should engage. Novelist Ron Rash says, “The Vain Conversation evokes the horrors of American racism, but Anthony Grooms never denies the humanity of his characters. His novel achieves what only the best literature can give us: it refuses too-easy consolations or too-easy condemnations. When we finish the last page, the book is not finished with us.”