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freckleduck's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a hard read. I found it to be a struggle because it was very intense subject material. This book describes the story of thirty two people with intellectual disabilities who were taken advantage of for 30 years. The book has a few gruesome details, but the hardest part is realizing people treated other people in this manner.
redhdlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
I remembered hearing about this on the news or in reading it the newspapers but I never knew the details. Modern slavery is terrible and still exists. So happy these men had a chance at living a life filled with choice after being rescued from the hell of the bunkhouse. When will we start paying coil worker more and giving DHS more support to investigate cases?
larryerick's review against another edition
4.0
In the spirit of full disclosure, I used to live in Iowa. When I was quite young, before the interstate highway took away the bulk of the U.S. Highway 6 traffic, I rode through the town with the "bunkhouse" in trips between Iowa and Illinois, though I can't say I remember Altalissa. In any event, it would have been before the "boys" showed up. Later, as an adult I attended school and worked about a half hour drive north. I visited West Liberty where the "boys" worked, though I couldn't say I remember turkey processing going on. I also went to school very near where several of the boys ended up after they gained their "freedom". I guess I should also say, for the record, that I worked for the State of Iowa on more than one occasion. Having said all that, this book starts out very dramatically, ends reasonably positively, given its subject matter, and in between, the author shows what excellent journalism is all about, providing texture and nuance without once holding back, just letting it all come out naturally. This may explain why a book that I would never describe as melodramatic, did, on several occasions, bring spontaneous tears to my eyes. It was as if a science teacher had just taken one innocuous liquid, mixed it with another one, added the slightest dash of another commonplace powder and PUFF!, instant emotion exploding from the realized deep humanity that had just been revealed. I watched a New York Times vignette film about the book's subject, and it didn't even come close to capturing all that is inside the book. Whatever your preconceived notions going in, I'm betting you'll find more than you expect.
lernstreads's review against another edition
5.0
I definitely recommend. It was a very well written book and a very well done audio book. It was heart-wrenching and appalling at times but a very interesting read.
emily_koopmann's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Torture, Racism, Ableism, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Animal death, and Toxic friendship
karnaconverse's review against another edition
4.0
Thoughtful look into a human tragedy that put Iowa, individuals with disabilities, and government regulations in the national spotlight.
This 2018 All Iowa Reads Selection is an easy read yet a difficult one to digest. At its premise is a group of men with intellectual disabilities brought to the state from Texas to work in a turkey processing plant, in jobs that few others wanted. For 30 years, they completed the same repetitive tasks and participated in the activities of the small community in which they lived. Then, one Sunday morning in 2009, they were gone and the doors to the dilapidated, old schoolhouse where they had lived were opened.
They were known as "the boys" to everyone in the small Iowa town who embraced them and to those in the Texas organization who hired them but few knew of the mistreatment they received and the injustices levied against them due to their disabilities. New York Times reporter and columnist Dan Barry picks up on reporting by the Des Moines Register, delves deep into the lives of these men, and explores society's role in taking care of its most vulnerable members.
I suspect readers will want to point fingers and place blame on someone or some organization as they progress through the book--and there are surely ample reasons to do so--but we should, instead, consider our individual voices and what we can do to ensure the proper care and treatment of everyone we come into contact with.
Read as a selection of my local library's book club.
This 2018 All Iowa Reads Selection is an easy read yet a difficult one to digest. At its premise is a group of men with intellectual disabilities brought to the state from Texas to work in a turkey processing plant, in jobs that few others wanted. For 30 years, they completed the same repetitive tasks and participated in the activities of the small community in which they lived. Then, one Sunday morning in 2009, they were gone and the doors to the dilapidated, old schoolhouse where they had lived were opened.
They were known as "the boys" to everyone in the small Iowa town who embraced them and to those in the Texas organization who hired them but few knew of the mistreatment they received and the injustices levied against them due to their disabilities. New York Times reporter and columnist Dan Barry picks up on reporting by the Des Moines Register, delves deep into the lives of these men, and explores society's role in taking care of its most vulnerable members.
I suspect readers will want to point fingers and place blame on someone or some organization as they progress through the book--and there are surely ample reasons to do so--but we should, instead, consider our individual voices and what we can do to ensure the proper care and treatment of everyone we come into contact with.
Read as a selection of my local library's book club.