Stats
for my copy:
Trade paperback, Arrow Books, 1996.
First
line:
I sat across the table from the man who had battered and tortured and
brutalized me nearly thirty years ago.
(For
the Goodreads synopsis, scroll to the bottom of this post.)
My
thoughts:
The kind of book where you don't really want to say you enjoyed it,
given the subject matter and the fact that it's nonfiction (although
I've read some dissenting views regarding that, but more on that
later), but it was definitely captivating. And during the part of the
book set at the Wilkinson School for Boys, a nice way of saying
juvenile detention center or reform school, there were times when I
felt anxious and dreaded the next few pages. I don't think a book has
ever done that to me before.
We
meet Lorenzo “Shakes” and his three best friends when they are
all around 11-14 years old (if I'm remembering correctly). The
author tells us how the four became fast friends while living in
Hell's Kitchen, and takes us through a lot of their escapades, up
until the fateful practical joke that lands a passerby in the
hospital. Up until then it's almost a warm amusing memoir of
schoolboy antics. But it definitely takes a very dark turn when the
four boys are sent to Wilkinson. From there we follow the boys as they
are abused by the guards, physically, emotionally and sexually. Those
are some of the scenes that gutted me, and were hard to read at
times.
Once the boys are released, we jump into the future, and follow the boys, now men, as
two of them kill one of the former guards, and the other two devise
an elaborate plan to tilt the trial in their favor and convince a
jury to find the killers not guilty. I understand the deep friendship
that led to this, but considering the two who killed the guards have
killed others before that, and probably went on to kill others after
that...well, it's a shaky moral line to be straddling.
Usually
after I read a book that's also a movie, I like to watch the movie.
This one, I'm not so sure I want to see these events played out in
front of me. Although, Brad Pitt and Jeffrey Donovan!
Shakes
grows up to become a journalist, and his writing is superb, with the
words flowing across the page. He has quite a few other books in his
backlist, fiction and nonfiction, and I plan to keep an eye out for
them.
After
the book's release, there was a lot of debate about whether or not it
was in fact a true story, with naysayers claiming there was no record
of any court case/trial like the one in the book. True or not, the
book is worth reading. You can find a New York Times article
here.
Goodreads
synopsis: Sleeper
(colloq.): 1. out-of-town hit man who spends the night after a local
contract is completed. 2. A juvenile sentenced to serve any period
longer than nine months in a state-managed facility.
This is
the story of four young boys. Four lifelong friends. Intelligent,
fun-loving, wise beyond their years, they are inseparable. Their
potential is unlimited, but they are content to live within the
closed world of New York City's Hell's Kitchen. And to play as many
pranks as they can on the denizens of the street. They never get
caught. And they know they never will. Until one disastrous summer
afternoon. On that day, what begins as a harmless scheme goes
horribly wrong. And the four find themselves facing a year's
imprisonment in the Wilkinson Home for Boys. The oldest of them is
fifteen, the youngest twelve. What happens to them over the course of
that year -- brutal beatings, unimaginable humiliation -- will change
their lives forever. Years later, one becomes a lawyer. One a
reporter. And two have grown up to be murderers, professional hit
men. For all of them, the pain and fear of Wilkinson still rages
within. Only one thing can erase it. Revenge. To exact it, they will
twist the legal system. Commandeer the courtroom for their agenda.
Use the wiles they observed on the streets, the violence they learned
at Wilkinson. If they get caught this time, they only have one thing
left to lose: their lives.
SLEEPERS
is the extraordinary true story of four men who take the law into
their own hands. It is a searing portrait of a system gone awry and
of the people -- some innocent, some not so innocent -- who must
suffer the consequences. At the heart of SLEEPERS is a sensational
murder trial that ultimately gives devastating, yet exhilarating,
proof of street justice and truly defines the meaning of loyalty and
love between friends. Told with great humor and compassion, even at
its most harrowing, SLEEPERS is an unforgettable reading experience.
