A review by twhittie
Start by Believing: Larry Nassar's Crimes, the Institutions That Enabled Him, and the Brave Women Who Stopped a Monster by John Barr, Dan Murphy

5.0

I’ve kept somewhat tabs on this as if the charges and trial happened, and watched the documentary “Athlete A”, but wondered how on earth did someone like this get away with so much. What type of environment was this doctor in where he realized he could get away with so much? An organization/society that still defaults to believing titles and “professional experience” over victims, that’s what. The pursuit of prestige and medals and money came at the cost of the humanity of children. Hundreds of them. This book went in depth of the rise of USA gymnastics and the culture the Kayrolis (whatever happened to THEM, by the way?) helped cultivate to keep children silent and obedient. To realize that unless a business/organization/institution treat and see and hear those at the “lowest” of their employees or athletes or whatever, predators and abuse and harm will continue to happen to the most vulnerable. We need to start believing instead of defaulting to what we think we know. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, though there is a trigger warning that this book does go into detail sometimes about the abuse that happened.