Uncle Otto

Long before moving away from The Bottom the poor black district of Beaumont Arkansas David and Mary Green yearn to escape the rural south and find a better life. The family steals away in the night seeking a new beginning in St. Louis Missouri. Even though St. Louis is more than they hoped for their son Otto succumbs to the draw of the streets; he's lured into the dangerous world of bootlegging alcohol at the height of Prohibition.</p>This fictional story of a large African American family from Arkansas and their move to a new life in St. Louis documents the history of black migration to the north in the 1920s and '30s. Cook vividly captures the tone of the times in this story filled with details of the family's lives-from births marriages separations and deaths to their compelling experiences with racism and Jim Crow laws criminal activity and eventually redemption.</p>Written in memoir form <I>Uncle Otto</I> is a nostalgic tribute to Winfred Cook's disabled uncle.</p>