Praying for Sheetrock: A Work of Non-Fiction
Melissa Fay Greene
Finalist for the 1991 National Book Award and a New York Times Notable book, Praying for Sheetrock is the story of McIntosh County, a small, isolated, and lovely place on the flowery coast of Georgia--and a county where, in the 1970s, the white sheriff still wielded all the power, controlling everything and everybody. Somehow the sweeping changes of the civil rights movement managed to bypass McIntosh entirely. It took one uneducated, unemployed black man, Thurnell Alston, to challenge the sheriff and his courthouse gang--and to change the way of life in this community forever. "An inspiring and absorbing account of the struggle for human dignity and racial equality" (Coretta Scott King)
Award History
3 wins · 5 total
| Award | Year | Result | Category / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards: Nonfiction | 1992 | Co-winner | Official source |
| Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize: Nonfiction | 1992 | Winner | Secondary source |
| Robert F. Kennedy Book Award | 1992 | Winner | Official source |
| National Book Award for NonfictionMajor | 1991 | Finalist | Secondary source |
| National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionMajor | 1991 | Finalist | Secondary source |
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies
This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.
01 Central figures
- Thurnell Alston82%
02 Central places
- McIntosh County, Georgia78%
03 Suggested argument
No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.
04 Reading orientation
35 / 100 academicSerious trade
An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.
Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 70%.