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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
(NOTE: I listened to the audiobook version, which I definitely recommend.)
This is the kind of audiobook you talk back to.
It’s the kind of book you beg your friends to read, so you have someone to talk about it with.
It’s the kind of book that has you going, “OH MY GOD” and “THIS IS SO FUCKED UP” and “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” while you’re in your car, by yourself.
So, this is the story behind Ronan Farrow’s incredible journalistic work on the women whose lives were ruined by Harvey Weinstein, NBC’s fucked up attempts to squash the story… and THEN it’s about Matt Lauer and all the nefarious shit going down at NBC.
This is the kind of audiobook you talk back to.
It’s the kind of book you beg your friends to read, so you have someone to talk about it with.
It’s the kind of book that has you going, “OH MY GOD” and “THIS IS SO FUCKED UP” and “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” while you’re in your car, by yourself.
So, this is the story behind Ronan Farrow’s incredible journalistic work on the women whose lives were ruined by Harvey Weinstein, NBC’s fucked up attempts to squash the story… and THEN it’s about Matt Lauer and all the nefarious shit going down at NBC.
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
"Ultimately, the reason Harvey Weinstein followed the route he did is because he was allowed to, and that’s our fault. As a culture that’s our fault."
Like a lot of people, I read this in close proximity to She Said, the other book published in 2019 about breaking the Harvey Weinstein story. (I liked She Said better. I liked that both authors were ladies, and I liked the close focus on true journalism and building relationships with their sources; it really centered the women's stories and how they had been affected.) But this one is different enough in tone and style that it brings a lot to the table, as well, and it was an entertaining (if enraging) read.
First of all, Farrow writes this book as if it were a non-fiction thriller, which was definitely new. The chapters are short, and he bounces you from POV to POV, so at first you don't know what's going on. He constructs a thriller style narrative out of all of his research and interviews, and it doesn't just involve journalism, but actual spies, unethical lawyers, network skullduggery, and Harvey Weinstein and his team exercising all their possible power and influence to protect Weinstein's empire of money and not-so-secret abuse. (Seriously, fuck Lisa Bloom.) Farrow's experience of researching and trying to first air the story on NBC and then eventually publish it in print with the New Yorker is incredibly illuminating for what goes on behind closed doors in service of protecting the status quo and the men who profit from it.
This book also centers Farrow and his experiences, and it is extremely dramatic. A good part of the book is focused on how the investigation is impacting his personal and professional lives, and his mental health. This book, as well as touching on certain other topics that She Said does, adds details about Matt Lauer. Farrow worked with Lauer at NBC and had ins to get interviews from sources there. That part of the book was almost as damning as the stuff about Weinstein.
If you only had it in you to read one book about this topic, I would probably go with She Said, because it is so straightforward, but if you're looking for something a little more constructed and intense, Catch and Kill is a good read for that. It's also a longer book by almost double, so it has more room to get to things that are more peripheral. I'd suggest reading both books. They complement each other well.
Like a lot of people, I read this in close proximity to She Said, the other book published in 2019 about breaking the Harvey Weinstein story. (I liked She Said better. I liked that both authors were ladies, and I liked the close focus on true journalism and building relationships with their sources; it really centered the women's stories and how they had been affected.) But this one is different enough in tone and style that it brings a lot to the table, as well, and it was an entertaining (if enraging) read.
First of all, Farrow writes this book as if it were a non-fiction thriller, which was definitely new. The chapters are short, and he bounces you from POV to POV, so at first you don't know what's going on. He constructs a thriller style narrative out of all of his research and interviews, and it doesn't just involve journalism, but actual spies, unethical lawyers, network skullduggery, and Harvey Weinstein and his team exercising all their possible power and influence to protect Weinstein's empire of money and not-so-secret abuse. (Seriously, fuck Lisa Bloom.) Farrow's experience of researching and trying to first air the story on NBC and then eventually publish it in print with the New Yorker is incredibly illuminating for what goes on behind closed doors in service of protecting the status quo and the men who profit from it.
This book also centers Farrow and his experiences, and it is extremely dramatic. A good part of the book is focused on how the investigation is impacting his personal and professional lives, and his mental health. This book, as well as touching on certain other topics that She Said does, adds details about Matt Lauer. Farrow worked with Lauer at NBC and had ins to get interviews from sources there. That part of the book was almost as damning as the stuff about Weinstein.
If you only had it in you to read one book about this topic, I would probably go with She Said, because it is so straightforward, but if you're looking for something a little more constructed and intense, Catch and Kill is a good read for that. It's also a longer book by almost double, so it has more room to get to things that are more peripheral. I'd suggest reading both books. They complement each other well.
It took a lot of courage for the women to come forward and for Ronan to uncover all of the lies and horrible actions by men with power. This was a good listen. One thing Ronan Farrow is going to have is RECEIPTS before he ever puts anything damning out there about someone. People are just mad because their faves are rapists.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
Every bit as horrifying as you can imagine the cover up of Harvey Weinstein’s evil deeds would be, and then some.
Only a white man with the privilege of family money and connections could have reported on this story and not have their entire career taken down by it. My positive take away is that Ronan used his power and the privilege of his voice to elevate the voices of the women who needed to be heard and it’s heartening to know men like him and the camera man who helped him exist.
Only a white man with the privilege of family money and connections could have reported on this story and not have their entire career taken down by it. My positive take away is that Ronan used his power and the privilege of his voice to elevate the voices of the women who needed to be heard and it’s heartening to know men like him and the camera man who helped him exist.
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
This account of the Harvey Weinstein investigation was gripping, horrifying, and vindicating in equal parts. I also thought that Ronan Farrow putting on different voices and accents for the various characters was a little bit distracting and a little bit hilarious.
Over and over, Farrow depicts an ouroboros of power and corruption. Through blackmail, coercion, bribery and menace, the Hollywood power structure cannibalises itself to protect its own. While much of reporting describes horrific and malicious behaviour, one of the most chilling parts for me was an anecdote about an executive pressuring NBC staff to drop a story about another Hollywood power broker. The person telling it to Farrow mused that the exec had done this not because he wanted to cover the offending party's actions, but because he was sick of fielding calls.
Listening to this book eight years after the allegations against Weinstein were first reported was a temporally disorienting experience. So many other complicit parties escaped with their careers unscathed that at times I felt a sense of futility at how unbreakable The System still appears to be. That being said, the flow of the narrative is so well-paced that I was thrilled by the twists and turns of the investigation despite knowing how it ends.
Overall I thought this was a brilliant and sensitive portrayal of sexual violence and complicity. The descriptions of sexual assault are horrific, but sparse, and Farrow grounds the perspective of his own experience, which prevents it from being too sensational. He also addresses his own family's history with sexual trauma with thoughtfulness and sensitivity, acknowledging its impact without dwelling on it or allowing it to overshadow the experience of his subjects.
Over and over, Farrow depicts an ouroboros of power and corruption. Through blackmail, coercion, bribery and menace, the Hollywood power structure cannibalises itself to protect its own. While much of reporting describes horrific and malicious behaviour, one of the most chilling parts for me was an anecdote about an executive pressuring NBC staff to drop a story about another Hollywood power broker. The person telling it to Farrow mused that the exec had done this not because he wanted to cover the offending party's actions, but because he was sick of fielding calls.
Listening to this book eight years after the allegations against Weinstein were first reported was a temporally disorienting experience. So many other complicit parties escaped with their careers unscathed that at times I felt a sense of futility at how unbreakable The System still appears to be. That being said, the flow of the narrative is so well-paced that I was thrilled by the twists and turns of the investigation despite knowing how it ends.
Overall I thought this was a brilliant and sensitive portrayal of sexual violence and complicity. The descriptions of sexual assault are horrific, but sparse, and Farrow grounds the perspective of his own experience, which prevents it from being too sensational. He also addresses his own family's history with sexual trauma with thoughtfulness and sensitivity, acknowledging its impact without dwelling on it or allowing it to overshadow the experience of his subjects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment