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A review by acschaffer
The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland by Dan Barry
3.0
Do you remember the shocking story of intellectually disabled men who were rescued from a slave-like environment in Atalissa, Iowa? I do, and I was anxious to learn more! The men were moved from Texas to live in an abandoned schoolhouse in rural Iowa. They worked from 1974 until they were rescued in 2007 at a turkey packing plant, doing the nastiest jobs in the facility. The company they worked for controlled every aspect of their lives. They kept most of their earnings, including social security, for rudimentary room and board. They were denied medical treatment and were physically and mentally abused. After their rescue, the men won a lawsuit with unprecedented damages of $240 million. Unfortunately, they did not end up getting near that amount in the end.
The content of this book is incredibly thorough. It is full of facts and interviews, but it reads like a long news story. This journalistic style bothered me for most of the book, but it was still worth reading. The book gives every side of the story, even that of the company owners. In my opinion, the author went a bit easy on the bad guys, which prevented me from feeling as much sympathy as I should have.
I live in Waterloo, Iowa, and loved reading about my little city's contribution in helping these men in the last part of the book. I didn't realize that many of them live here now. My best friend from college is from Atalissa, which also peaked my interest in the story.
The content of this book is incredibly thorough. It is full of facts and interviews, but it reads like a long news story. This journalistic style bothered me for most of the book, but it was still worth reading. The book gives every side of the story, even that of the company owners. In my opinion, the author went a bit easy on the bad guys, which prevented me from feeling as much sympathy as I should have.
I live in Waterloo, Iowa, and loved reading about my little city's contribution in helping these men in the last part of the book. I didn't realize that many of them live here now. My best friend from college is from Atalissa, which also peaked my interest in the story.