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The Pale-Faced Lie is an extraordinary memoir (2019) by debutant American author David Crow. A great remembrance of his abusive childhood is both gut-wrenching and inspiring.
Growing up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, David Crow and his siblings idolize their dad. Tall, strong, smart, and brave, the self-taught Cherokee regaled his family with stories of his World War II. But as time passed, David discovered the other side of Thurston Crow, the ex-con with his own code of ethics that justified cruelty, violence, lies, and even murders. He was as intelligent as he was dangerous--apparently, a bearer of uncommonly high IQ and alarmingly volatile.
Thurston intimidated David with beating to coerce him into doing his criminal bidding. David's mom, too mentally ill to care for her children, couldn't protect him. One day Thurston packed up the house and took the kids, leaving his wife homeless and destitute. Soon he remarried, and David learned that his stepmother was just as vicious and abusive as his father.
David Crow struggled at school--he was diagnosed with dyslexia--but still managed to graduate from college and eventually win a position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture administration. But Thurston's madness continued to haunt the author-- his father tried to pull Crow's sister, Sally, into a conspiracy to commit a crime. He finally felt the need to stop his father and found the courage to try. Crow's memoir is cinematically gripping--the depth of Thurston's sociopathic depravity is as absorbing as it is repulsive. The author deftly relates that his father conceived the conspiracy with cunning cynicism: "Dad's logic was simple: He knew that if he involved sally...she would ask for my help, even when she swore to keep silent. And he knew that I wouldn't let anything happen to Sally." Crow writes with confessional frankness and affectingly depicts a childhood lost to emotional and physical abuse.
Through sheer determination, and with the help of a few angels along the way, David managed to get into college and achieve professional success. When he finally found the courage to refuse his father’s criminal demands, he unwittingly triggered a plot of revenge that would force him into a showdown with Thurston Crow.
With lives at stake, including his own, David would have only twenty-four hours to outsmart his father—the brilliant, psychotic man who bragged that the three years he spent in the notorious San Quentin State Prison had been the easiest time of his life.
The Pale-Faced Lie is a searing, raw, palpable memoir that reminds us what an important role our parents play in our lives. Most of all, it’s an inspirational story about the power of forgiveness and the ability of the human spirit to rise above adversity.
About the Author
David Crow spent his early years on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. Through grit, resilience, and a thirst for learning, he managed to escape his abusive childhood, graduate from college, and build a successful lobbying firm in Washington, DC. Today, David is a sought after speaker, giving talks to various organizations around the world. Throughout the years, he has mentored over 200 college interns, performed pro bono service for the charitable organization 'Save the Children', and participated in the 'Big Brothers Big Sisters' program. An advocate for women, he will donate a percentage of his royalties from The Pale-Faced Lie to Barrett House, a homeless shelter for women in Albuquerque. David and his wife, Patty, live in the suburbs of DC.
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| David Crow |
Rating: 4.6/5
Author: David Crow
Publisher: Sandra Jonas Publishing House (Illustrated edition)
Publishing Date: May 7, 2019
Edition Language: English
Genre: Native American and Aboriginal Biographies, Sibling Relationships, Survival Biographies, True Crime, Personal Memoir, Children's Studies, Social Science
ISBN-10: 0997487178
ISBN-13: 978-0997487176
Pages: 352 (Hardcover)
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