Same Same

Samuel Lewis, the youngest of seven children born to African American working class parents, and Hamilton Armstrong III, the only son of a wealthy white family and local leader of the Ku Klux Klan, grew up in the same small Virginia town, but lived worlds apart. They meet through mischief and despite the racial barriers of the pre-Civil Rights era, a life-long friendship is formed. Both driven by a passion for writing, they begin journalism careers at different New York newspapers, experience dangerous, as well as raunchy times in Vietnam and enter the sunset years of their careers at the same Atlanta newspaper where they are dueling political columnists: Sam pens the conservative viewpoint and Ham provides the liberal perspective. Unexpected excitement enters their lives as a bomb meant for Sam kills a colleague in the midst of their coverage of Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency. “Brothers under the same skin, Same Same sketches the lives of two talented journalists, one white, one black, in a novel that is part thriller and part morality tale. Doug Smith, a ground breaking reporter, undoubtedly lived the themes echoed in this book and he skillfully weaves a tale with a message that is both timely and timeless.” -Eleanor Clift, Newsweek and Daily Beast contributor and panelist with The McLaughlin Group “Doug Smith has written a fetching race-drama that flips the script on group assumption about life, love and politics. There is energy here, start to finish; and the tension puts the reader on his toes, then back on his heels. The author is quite savvy about the newspaper industry, mindful of its decline and guarded about newspapers way forward. But it is race politics in America, glancing off White House politics, where the novel takes on currency and makes itself a worthy book for our time.” -Les Payne, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author “People say newspapers are dying. Well, Doug Smith’s new rollercoaster novel certainly sends them out with a bang. Murder, sex, race, politics, scandal--all set in the newsroom. I love it!” -Tony Kornheiser, co-anchor of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption