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While the City Slept: A Love Lost to Violence and a Young Man's Descent into Madness by Eli Sanders
annarick15's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Sexual assault
slwrites's review against another edition
4.0
Really a 4.5 - At times the prose was distracting as it tried too hard to be some imagined version of a loftier literary style that just felt forced. However, beauty was there in the story and the words, especially when connecting to the most horrific issues in the text. Sanders creates a solid tensions between victim, system, and accused in a way that does not downplay pain on any side and still manages to offer some explanations without making excuses. A very good true crime read.
Massive trigger warnings for sexual assault and domestic violence.
Massive trigger warnings for sexual assault and domestic violence.
hswhite's review against another edition
4.0
This is an important book, but it is triggering and deeply disturbing. I'm not sure I will sleep well for a while.
wellyreads's review against another edition
5.0
Should be required reading for every elected official. Amazingly well written (as expected), and thought provoking.
bmpicc's review against another edition
3.0
**Note: This is graphic in a few sections. Some may need to fast forward or gloss over certain sections.**
I liked how this was divided up. It really gives the reader a feel for WHO the victims were which I appreciated so much. Too often books focus more on the attacker and we lose sight of the other person(s) involved. Sanders shared their whole lives with us, not just this single night.
I liked how this was divided up. It really gives the reader a feel for WHO the victims were which I appreciated so much. Too often books focus more on the attacker and we lose sight of the other person(s) involved. Sanders shared their whole lives with us, not just this single night.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
The true crime genre has come a long way since I worked in bookstores and it consisted of a few rows of red and black books, spines inevitably cracked at the point where the crime scene photos were located. A co-worker dubbed it the "how-to section" and there was no denying that it was a creepy, creepy selection of books. While I'm sure that these kinds of books still exist, the genre has become more thoughtful, less sensational, and downright respectable. While the City Slept is written by Eli Sanders, who won a Pulitzer for his journalism on this specific murder, and focuses mostly on mental health services or, more exactly, the lack thereof.
On a hot July night in 2009, a man broke into the small house shared by a lesbian couple in the South Park district of Seattle. He raped both women and managed to kill one of them. It was a brutal and inexplicable crime. Sanders begins with the lives of the three people present on that night, showing how Jennifer Hopper and Theresa Butz ended up living in that house as they planned their commitment ceremony and lived their lives. He also looks at Isaiah Kalebu's life, beginning with his childhood living in a house where his parents battled, sometimes violently, and how the early signs that he needed help were lost among the family turmoil, poverty and the inability of the school system (in this case, a church-based school) to take action. As Isaiah's issues became more and more apparent, he still failed to receive help, the over-worked court system and over-burdened mental health systems being geared to keeping him on the street without sufficient support. (It should, of course, be noted that the vast, vast majority of people with mental health issues (Isaiah's never having been formally diagnosed, as he had only brief encounters with mental health professionals who gave conflicting diagnoses) never commit even a single act of violence.)
This is a sobering account of how little we do for the mentally ill in our communities and how that constant need to not spend taxpayers' money on basic services results in much higher costs as the police and prison systems become the help of last resort. While the City Slept is a work of solid journalism.
On a hot July night in 2009, a man broke into the small house shared by a lesbian couple in the South Park district of Seattle. He raped both women and managed to kill one of them. It was a brutal and inexplicable crime. Sanders begins with the lives of the three people present on that night, showing how Jennifer Hopper and Theresa Butz ended up living in that house as they planned their commitment ceremony and lived their lives. He also looks at Isaiah Kalebu's life, beginning with his childhood living in a house where his parents battled, sometimes violently, and how the early signs that he needed help were lost among the family turmoil, poverty and the inability of the school system (in this case, a church-based school) to take action. As Isaiah's issues became more and more apparent, he still failed to receive help, the over-worked court system and over-burdened mental health systems being geared to keeping him on the street without sufficient support. (It should, of course, be noted that the vast, vast majority of people with mental health issues (Isaiah's never having been formally diagnosed, as he had only brief encounters with mental health professionals who gave conflicting diagnoses) never commit even a single act of violence.)
This is a sobering account of how little we do for the mentally ill in our communities and how that constant need to not spend taxpayers' money on basic services results in much higher costs as the police and prison systems become the help of last resort. While the City Slept is a work of solid journalism.
cbendixe's review against another edition
5.0
This book haunts me. Part of that unsettled feeling comes from the fact that this heinous crime was preventable; much of it comes from the compassionate way this book was written. Sanders tells the story of Teresa, Jennifer, and Isaiah without using the words "victim" or "perpetrator." He hooks the reader by telling their life stories, having spoken to their families and friends, and makes you see them as they are/were. He makes as clear as possible the byzantine system of counseling, mental health, and law enforcement that Isaiah encounters in his life.
The city of Seattle and its surrounding towns and suburbs also serve as a fourth major character, with the apt title "While the City Slept" having multiple meanings. The literal one of the crime, of course, but also the broader one, where the ineffective, inept, and inhumane system of mental health care does not solve the problems it’s meant to, and most of the population is oblivious of that. And maybe among (or because of?) the city's startling divide between rich and poor, and black and white, they are also indifferent to that fact.
Even if you're not into true crime books, or non-fiction in general, give this a read. Now.
The city of Seattle and its surrounding towns and suburbs also serve as a fourth major character, with the apt title "While the City Slept" having multiple meanings. The literal one of the crime, of course, but also the broader one, where the ineffective, inept, and inhumane system of mental health care does not solve the problems it’s meant to, and most of the population is oblivious of that. And maybe among (or because of?) the city's startling divide between rich and poor, and black and white, they are also indifferent to that fact.
Even if you're not into true crime books, or non-fiction in general, give this a read. Now.
misterkait's review against another edition
5.0
A very powerful book that brought me to tears, yet left me feeling more sympathy than hatred toward the young man, close to my own age, who committed such a horrific act of brutality and violence.
bookofcinz's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
I am not one to read non-fiction on crime but I decided to give this one a go because I had just finished binge watching “Making of a Murderer”. I think this book should have been made into a TV series instead of a book. There were so many moving parts, so many angles to cover that a lot of these issues that should have been looked at more in-depth was done on a surface level.
Yes, the book was well written, it is clear Sanders did a massive amount of research on this piece but sometimes I felt too much irrelevant information was presented. For example, Sanders spoke a lot about the jury selection; he gave detailed reasons why some persons weren’t selected and why others were. I felt this was a little unnecessary because it added nothing to the story and was overall not interesting. I want to hear about the trial itself, not about a cyclist that was selected and had to leave because he is the leader of his cycle team.
With that said, this was a difficult book to read, I got nauseated reading Jennifer’s testimony. It was so overwhelming at times reading Isaiah’s decent into mental illness. All of these were a lot to take in. I also felt- and I feel a little bad saying this- but I felt like enough was not done to “humanize” Jennifer and Teresa, they were presented in such a clinical way. It wasn’t until Jennifer took the stand at the trial that my heart genuinely went out to her and Teresa.
I am interested to see how other people review this book because I feel so many ways about it.
I am not one to read non-fiction on crime but I decided to give this one a go because I had just finished binge watching “Making of a Murderer”. I think this book should have been made into a TV series instead of a book. There were so many moving parts, so many angles to cover that a lot of these issues that should have been looked at more in-depth was done on a surface level.
Yes, the book was well written, it is clear Sanders did a massive amount of research on this piece but sometimes I felt too much irrelevant information was presented. For example, Sanders spoke a lot about the jury selection; he gave detailed reasons why some persons weren’t selected and why others were. I felt this was a little unnecessary because it added nothing to the story and was overall not interesting. I want to hear about the trial itself, not about a cyclist that was selected and had to leave because he is the leader of his cycle team.
With that said, this was a difficult book to read, I got nauseated reading Jennifer’s testimony. It was so overwhelming at times reading Isaiah’s decent into mental illness. All of these were a lot to take in. I also felt- and I feel a little bad saying this- but I felt like enough was not done to “humanize” Jennifer and Teresa, they were presented in such a clinical way. It wasn’t until Jennifer took the stand at the trial that my heart genuinely went out to her and Teresa.
I am interested to see how other people review this book because I feel so many ways about it.