Dead Opposite: The Lives and Loss of Two American Boys

by Geoffrey Douglas

The story of two boys--a privileged white student and the desperate black gang member who shot and killed him--reveals the chasm that divides us and the hopes, dreams, and heartaches we have in common. 25,000 first printing. $20,000 ad/promo.

Genres: True Crime

207 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1994

About the author

Geoffrey Douglas is the author of six books --five of nonfiction and one novel--and more than 100 magazine pieces, many of them widely anthologized. A former reporter, editor, columnist, and adjunct professor of creative writing at the University of Massachusetts, he has been a fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and a writer-in-residence at several schools and universities.
His most recent work, "Love in a Dark Place" (2025), described by Kirkus Reviews as "a moving, unflinching novel about human depravity and the way love can coexist in its menacing presence," is set in 1980s Atlantic City, where Douglas worked at the time as editor of an investigative weekly.
Other books include two widely-reviewed memoirs -- "Class" (1992) and “The Classmates" (2008) -- as well as "The Game of Their Lives “ (1996), an account of the 1950 U.S. World Cup soccer team and the immigrant men who composed it, adapted as a 2005 movie of the same name. His fifth book, “The Grifter, The Poet, and The Runaway Train: Stories From a Yankee Writer’s Notebook" (2019), is a compilation of his stories in Yankee, written over 20 years.

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this might just be a downer or the same old shite about racial inequality that never takes you anywhere, but this book is truly different. It really draws a picture of how separate the worlds of black and white people are in this country and how they are kept separate, bounded all the way around by profound mututal incomprehension. The author said several times that he knew he was deeply offending the family of the Yale student who was shot, by not seeing the guy who may have shot him as just low life. He's probably right. But boy, did he ever do the right thing with this topic. He doesn't suggest any solutions, but he does give you a much better look at the machinery underneath the problem which might finally give someone a real opportunity to sabotage it.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of a high school classmate gunned down in New Haven, CT. A tragic story that is examined from its cause being rooted in the social context of haves vs have nots, followed by the ripple effect of violence and subsequent arrests on the families. It happened 28 years ago, but unfortunately, little has changed and the book offers no answers as much as a reminder of what will continue to happen until we accept and address the problems.