BOOKS & FILM
Explore some of Shawn's fiction, nonfiction & film writing below.
The War on Science
ISBN-13-978-1571313539
​
The War on Science will change how you see the world
Shawn Otto’s new book is a must-read
​
Every so often a book comes along that changes the way you view the world. The War on Science: Who’s Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It by Shawn Otto is one of those rare books. If you care about attacks on climate science and the rise of authoritarianism, if you care about biased media coverage or shake-your-head political tomfoolery, this book is for you. ...
​
At the very time we need them most, scientists and the idea of objective knowledge are being bombarded by a vast, well-funded, three-part war on science: the identity politics war on science, the ideological war on science, and the industrial war on science. The result is an unprecedented erosion of thought in Western democracies as voters, policymakers, and justices actively ignore the evidence from science, leaving major policy decisions to be based more on the demands of the most strident voices.
Shawn Lawrence Otto's provocative new book investigates the historical, social, philosophical, political, and emotional reasons for why and how evidence-based politics are in decline and authoritarian politics are once again on the rise, and offers a vision, an argument, and some compelling solutions to bring us to our collective senses, before it's too late.
Sins of Our Fathers
ISBN-13-978-1571311184
​A Crime Novel about Race, Money, and the American Dream
​
"Every novel is a crime novel. Because not every crime is a crime against the law. There are crimes of the heart, crimes of faith, crimes against our collective conscience. Sins of Our Fathers is the Russian nesting doll of crime novels. An arson inside an embezzlement inside an assault inside a banking scheme, all the way down to the core of the book, an unflinching look at America’s original sin: five hundred years of physical and spiritual violence against Native peoples, both on and off the reservation. Crimes that made our country."
—Attica Locke, author of Black Water Rising
***Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize***
***Winner of the NE Minnesota Book Award***
Small-town banker J.W. has been caught embezzling funds to support his gambling addiction. J.W. is on the verge of losing everything when his boss offers him a scoundrel's path to redemption: sabotage a competing, Native banker named Johnny Eagle. A single father, Eagle recently returned to the reservation, leaving a high-powered job in the hope of simultaneously empowering his community and saving his troubled son. When J.W. moves onto the reservation and begins to work his way close to Eagle, hundreds of years of animosities rise to the surface, driving the characters toward a Shakespearean and shattering conclusion.
House of Sand and Fog
SCREENWRITER & COPRODUCER
​
Massoud Behrani, an Iranian immigrant, has spent most of his savings trying to enhance his daughter's chances of a good marriage. Once she is married, he spends the remaining funds on a house at an auction, unwittingly putting himself and his family in the middle of a legal tussle with Kathy Niccolo, the house's former owner. What begins as a legal struggle turns into a personal confrontation, with tragic results.
3 Academy Award nominations
Starring:
Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley
Runtime:
2 hours, 6 minutes
Available to watch now on supported devices.
Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America
ISBN-13-978-1605292175
​
"A gripping analysis of America's anti-science crisis."
—Starred Kirkus Review for "remarkable merit"
"every voter in the country should read it."
—MinnPost.com
"In this incredible book, Otto explores the devaluation of science in America. His exhaustively researched text explains the three-pronged attack on science."
—Starred Publishers Weekly review for "outstanding quality"
"The solutions Otto suggests require a great deal of dedication and optimism. Nonetheless, the problems he identifies are quite real. Fool Me Twice offers a compelling consideration of the United States' political estrangement from science. One would very much like to attend to Otto's equally compelling hopes."
—Science Magazine
Writers United for All Families
EDITOR
ASIN: B009MBNPXM
​
In one of the most remarkable author readings ever held, seventeen award-winning authors wrote and read original short works on why everyone from liberals to libertarians should oppose restriction of same-sex marriage.
The event was so special, and produced so many sparkling and varying perspectives, that the writers were asked to collect their works in a volume to share.
This collection of original poems and essays includes works by Lois West Duffy * Jacque Fletcher * Michael Hall * Nor Hall * Patricia Hampl * Greg Hewett * Marya Hornbacher * Kathryn Kysar * Jim Lenfestey * Jim Moore * Darby Nelson * Shawn Lawrence Otto * John Reimringer * Kate St Vincent Vogl * Kurtis Scaletta * Don Shelby * Faith Sullivan * RD Zimmerman.
Edited by Shawn Lawrence Otto. Profits from sales are donated to efforts supporting marriage equality.