Immagine dell'autore.

Sull'Autore

Fonte dell'immagine: from his website

Opere di Eli Sanders

Etichette

Informazioni generali

Sesso
male
Luogo di residenza
Seattle, Washington, USA
Attività lavorative
journalist
Premi e riconoscimenti
Pulitzer Prize (Feature Writing, 2012)

Utenti

Recensioni

While the City Slept: Love Lost to Violence and a Young Man’s Descent into Violence by Eli Sanders is the account of violence and murder in a Seattle community. Eli Sanders is the associate editor of Seattle's weekly newspaper The Stranger. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2012 for his reporting on the murder of Teresa Butz. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Seattle Times, The American Prospect, and Salon, among other publications.

I usually don’t read true crime books and I am not a fan of narrative nonfiction. This book, however, is a game changer. The story is told well and with enough detail that the idea to check sources passed by me. Sanders takes an almost personal role in the story telling. It was his news story back in 2012 and, much like Jon Krakauer’s reporting of a death in Alaska for Outside Magazine, the story has been extended with research down several avenues.

Teresa Butz, tomgirl, traveler, and searching for her role in life is examined from early life as one of eleven children in a Catholic family. Jennifer Hopper, a talented singer, who could not find the proper role in music New York. The two meet in Seattle and become a couple and set a date for a commitment ceremony. The book opens with the aftermath of rape and violent assault that left Teresa Butz dead and Jennifer Hopper finding refuge with a neighbor. The man responsible, Isaiah Kalebu, also has a story.

His story is told to present the how a terrible crime could happen and sadly on how it could have been prevented. It is not told for the reader to take pity on the killer. It is told to show how things work in practice rather than in reality. There are more than gaps in the system. There are gaping holes. From a bridge that has been damaged by earthquakes, caseloads for judges, and mental health budgets. Sanders points out that there are more people in prison mental health facilities than there are outside of prison. It has much more to do with budgets than the number of people requiring care. The system is not intentionally callous as it does have people who care, but so many are overworked and overscheduled to do much good.

While the City Slept, gives a very worthwhile account of the lives of Butz and Hopper and although their same-sex relationship is what brought them together, Sanders does not make that point a central theme or a rallying point. They are treated no different than a heterosexual couple which is nice to see the acceptance of relationships as norms rather than the exception. Sanders also does an excellent job of drawing the road map that brings the three people on a collision course. It is an eye-opening book on the system we all live in. Surprising too the is the role of the police in the story. The investigation of the crime takes little time and effort for the police. Isaiah Kalebu is arrested less than a week after the crime. An intensely interesting read that is difficult to put down.
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
evil_cyclist | 10 altre recensioni | Mar 16, 2020 |
A true crime story that took place in July, 2009 in a suburb of Seattle. Eli Sanders won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on this murder and exposing a flawed mental health system in Washington State. It’s not hard to make the leap that this is a colossal problem in our country; one that has been ignored and underfunded with dire consequences. The book tells of a violent rape and assault on two women, one woman did not survive. The crime was committed by Isiah Kalebu, a mentally ill person who slipped though the system despite attempts by his family to get help for him. The book is well written and researched and although not a riveting read, it’s still a book that’s hard to put down. It stirs up a lot of anger about a system that clearly does not work. Sanders gives us the backstory of the two victims and the murderer. It’s all the sadder knowing that Jennifer Hopper and Teresa Butz were real people who loved each other, had friends and family and full engaging lives before the attack and that this may have been prevented if Isaiah’s problems had been addressed. This is a good book for anyone who enjoys true crime stories; or has an interest in the failing mental health or criminal justice systems

Review previously posted at: www.princetonbookreview.com

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… (altro)
 
Segnalato
Princetonbookreview | 10 altre recensioni | Mar 27, 2017 |
The true crime genre has come a long way since I worked in bookstores and it consisted of a few rows of red and black books, spines inevitably cracked at the point where the crime scene photos were located. A co-worker dubbed it the "how-to section" and there was no denying that it was a creepy, creepy selection of books. While I'm sure that these kinds of books still exist, the genre has become more thoughtful, less sensational, and downright respectable. While the City Slept is written by Eli Sanders, who won a Pulitzer for his journalism on this specific murder, and focuses mostly on mental health services or, more exactly, the lack thereof.

On a hot July night in 2009, a man broke into the small house shared by a lesbian couple in the South Park district of Seattle. He raped both women and managed to kill one of them. It was a brutal and inexplicable crime. Sanders begins with the lives of the three people present on that night, showing how Jennifer Hopper and Theresa Butz ended up living in that house as they planned their commitment ceremony and lived their lives. He also looks at Isaiah Kalebu's life, beginning with his childhood living in a house where his parents battled, sometimes violently, and how the early signs that he needed help were lost among the family turmoil, poverty and the inability of the school system (in this case, a church-based school) to take action. As Isaiah's issues became more and more apparent, he still failed to receive help, the over-worked court system and over-burdened mental health systems being geared to keeping him on the street without sufficient support. (It should, of course, be noted that the vast, vast majority of people with mental health issues (Isaiah's never having been formally diagnosed, as he had only brief encounters with mental health professionals who gave conflicting diagnoses) never commit even a single act of violence.)

This is a sobering account of how little we do for the mentally ill in our communities and how that constant need to not spend taxpayers' money on basic services results in much higher costs as the police and prison systems become the help of last resort. While the City Slept is a work of solid journalism.
… (altro)
½
 
Segnalato
RidgewayGirl | 10 altre recensioni | Oct 31, 2016 |
After reading this, one has to wonder what would have to be the flashpoint for government to take mental illness seriously and fund it it to the extent that people like Isaiah can actually get help and support to manage their illnesses. Unfortunately I think it will take many more tragedies like Jennifer and Teresa's, and billions of dollars in court and incarceration costs to chip away at this reticence until attitudes start to change. This is a book to make you think. The most unsettling section is during the trial testimony.… (altro)
 
Segnalato
Salsabrarian | 10 altre recensioni | Jun 14, 2016 |

Premi e riconoscimenti

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Statistiche

Opere
1
Utenti
211
Popolarità
#105,256
Voto
4.0
Recensioni
11
ISBN
6

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