A review by larryerick
The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland by Dan Barry

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.