THE NEVER-ENDING WRONG

by Katherine Ann Porter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 23, 1977

There is a significant factual error on the first page of this book, where Porter states that Sacco and Vanzetti were tried and found guilty in 1920 and sentenced eighteen months later. In fact, they were not sentenced until their appeals ran out--in April 1927, four months before their execution. It is significant because Porter's involvement in protests against the death sentences, which is the subject of this slight book (originally published in The Atlantic), only began two weeks before the executions, after an appeal went out from the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee to writers and intellectuals. Porter's commitment to ""the cause"" lasted two weeks, and apparently she knows no more about it now than she did then. She was out to do her moral duty and easily fell in with a Communist group that exploited naive liberals, as they did Sacco and Vanzetti themselves. Her book is marked by the same confused, paper-thin moralism combined with a resolute political ignorance. Her current rantings about fellow-travelers come a bit late in the day.

Pub Date: Aug. 23, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atlantic/Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION