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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
I loved the film, the book not so Much. The Way it was witten just didnt dó it for me. Sorry lorenzo
(N.B.: When I wrote this review, I was unaware of the controversy surrounding the book's authenticity. It has since been drawn to my attention. Please take all comments as to the book's veracity with a grain of salt...)
Lorenzo Carcaterra, Sleepers (Ballantine, 1995)
It's not often that a tell-all bio from someone not inside the Hollywood Beltway spends months on the New York Times bestseller list and gets made into a movie with the kind of high-powered cast that fueled the film version of Sleepers. The movie was compelling enough to require checking into the book; as is almost always the case, the book is a superior form of media. In this case, that's saying something.
Sleepers is the story of Lorenzo Carcaterra and three of his friends. They grew up in Hell's Kitchen, one of New York City's less affluent neighborhoods, and were [b:on the road|6288|The Road|Cormac McCarthy|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21E8H3D1JSL._SL75_.jpg|3355573] to the future everyone but they expected for them, a future that was no future at all. Then one of their small-time pranks got out of hand, and the four of them ended up in a juvenile detention facility for varying periods of time. Their tenure at that facility is the centerpiece of the book, but it is in no way the whole story. There is more to the four friends than that. That's what lifts Sleepers out of the ranks of the basic autobiography; while most everything in the book points to its central motif, many of the episodes contained here also point in other directions. Carcaterra paints a bleak picture of Hell's Kitchen in the sixties, but is still able to look back on his and his friends' life of petty crime and quotidian ruin with something approaching joy. Given the trauma of the events that followed, that's something special.
Not to say that the book looks at life through rose-colored glasses. Far from it, in fact. Those who've read Dwight Edgar Abbott's excellent autobiography about the California juvenile penal system, I Cried, You Didn't Listen, will find nothing in Sleepers to surprise them about the four boys' experiences in a correctional facility (others may be shocked). The material is presented in a light that comes off as surprisingly objective, but the reader is made well aware of the pain and suffering Carcaterra and his friends were subjected to at the same time. Unlike Abbott, however, Carcaterra was able to achieve some closure regarding his stay there (covered in the third of the book's three parts), giving the book less rage and more balance. Good stuff. *** ½
Lorenzo Carcaterra, Sleepers (Ballantine, 1995)
It's not often that a tell-all bio from someone not inside the Hollywood Beltway spends months on the New York Times bestseller list and gets made into a movie with the kind of high-powered cast that fueled the film version of Sleepers. The movie was compelling enough to require checking into the book; as is almost always the case, the book is a superior form of media. In this case, that's saying something.
Sleepers is the story of Lorenzo Carcaterra and three of his friends. They grew up in Hell's Kitchen, one of New York City's less affluent neighborhoods, and were [b:on the road|6288|The Road|Cormac McCarthy|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21E8H3D1JSL._SL75_.jpg|3355573] to the future everyone but they expected for them, a future that was no future at all. Then one of their small-time pranks got out of hand, and the four of them ended up in a juvenile detention facility for varying periods of time. Their tenure at that facility is the centerpiece of the book, but it is in no way the whole story. There is more to the four friends than that. That's what lifts Sleepers out of the ranks of the basic autobiography; while most everything in the book points to its central motif, many of the episodes contained here also point in other directions. Carcaterra paints a bleak picture of Hell's Kitchen in the sixties, but is still able to look back on his and his friends' life of petty crime and quotidian ruin with something approaching joy. Given the trauma of the events that followed, that's something special.
Not to say that the book looks at life through rose-colored glasses. Far from it, in fact. Those who've read Dwight Edgar Abbott's excellent autobiography about the California juvenile penal system, I Cried, You Didn't Listen, will find nothing in Sleepers to surprise them about the four boys' experiences in a correctional facility (others may be shocked). The material is presented in a light that comes off as surprisingly objective, but the reader is made well aware of the pain and suffering Carcaterra and his friends were subjected to at the same time. Unlike Abbott, however, Carcaterra was able to achieve some closure regarding his stay there (covered in the third of the book's three parts), giving the book less rage and more balance. Good stuff. *** ½
Hard to say i 'liked' this book - its a really tough read emotionally. But, overall i thought it was good - well written, and although it started out slow the pacing improved dramatically.
Rough read. Fun story. New York youth are unjustly put in a juvenile detention center where they are mentally, physically, and sexually abused. Years later, they seek revenge through the court system. The author claimed that the story was based on actual events. I don't know...
I read this book back before the film came out. I was probably too young for the content, and it was a harrowing experience. There have been questions regarding the memoir's authenticity, but it's a brave work no matter the level of truth involved.