Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption
Autor Benjamin Rachlinen Limba Engleză Paperback – 20 aug 2018
One
of
the
Best
Books
of
2017:
National
Public
Radio,San
Francisco
Chronicle,Library
Journal,Shelf
Awareness
"Remarkable
.
.
.
Captivating
.
.
.
Rachlin
is
a
skilled
storyteller."
--New
York
Times
Book
Review
"A
gripping
legal-thriller
mystery
.
.
.
Profoundly
elevates
good-cause
advocacy
to
greater
heights--to
where
innocent
lives
are
saved."--USA
Today
"A
crisply
written
page
turner."
--NPR
A
gripping
account
of
one
man's
long
road
to
freedom
that
will
forever
change
how
we
understand
our
criminal
justice
system
During
the
last
three
decades,
more
than
two
thousand
American
citizens
have
been
wrongfully
convicted.Ghost
of
the
Innocent
Manbrings
us
one
of
the
most
dramatic
of
those
cases
and
provides
the
clearest
picture
yet
of
the
national
scourge
of
wrongful
conviction
and
of
the
opportunity
for
meaningful
reform.
When the final gavel clapped in a rural southern courtroom in the summer of 1988, Willie J. Grimes, a gentle spirit with no record of violence, was shocked and devastated to be convicted of first-degree rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. Here is the story of this everyman and his extraordinary quarter-century-long journey to freedom, told in breathtaking and sympathetic detail, from the botched evidence and suspect testimony that led to his incarceration to the tireless efforts to prove his innocence and the identity of the true perpetrator. These were spearheaded by his relentless champion, Christine Mumma, a cofounder of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission. That commission--unprecedented at its inception in 2006--remains a model organization unlike any other in the country, and one now responsible for a growing number of exonerations.
With meticulous, prismatic research and pulse-quickening prose, Benjamin Rachlin presents one man's tragedy and triumph. The jarring and unsettling truth is that the story of Willie J. Grimes, for all its outrage, dignity, and grace, is not a unique travesty. But through the harrowing and suspenseful account of one life, told from the inside, we experience the full horror of wrongful conviction on a national scale.Ghost of the Innocent Manis both rare and essential, a masterwork of empathy. The book offers a profound reckoning not only with the shortcomings of our criminal justice system but also with its possibilities for redemption.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9780316311502
ISBN-10: 0316311502
Pagini: 400
Dimensiuni: 140 x 213 x 29 mm
Greutate: 0.34 kg
Editura: Little, Brown and Company
Colecția Back Bay Books
ISBN-10: 0316311502
Pagini: 400
Dimensiuni: 140 x 213 x 29 mm
Greutate: 0.34 kg
Editura: Little, Brown and Company
Colecția Back Bay Books
Notă biografică
Benjamin
Rachlin
grew
up
in
New
Hampshire.
He
studied
English
at
Bowdoin
College,
where
he
won
the
Sinkinson
Prize,
and
writing
at
the
University
of
North
Carolina
Wilmington,
where
he
won
Schwartz
and
Brauer
fellowships.
His
work
has
appeared,
or
is
forthcoming,
in
theNew
York
Times
Magazine,
TIME,
and
theVirginia
Quarterly
Review.
He
lives
near
Boston.Ghost
of
the
Innocent
Manis
his
first
book.
Recenzii
"Remarkable
.
.
.
A
captivating,
intimate
profile
of
oneman's
stubbornly
persistent
efforts
to
convince
others
of
his
innocence
.
.
.Rachlin
is
a
skilled
storyteller
.
.
.
With
understatement
and
painstakingreporting,
he
fully
succeeds
in
his
rich,
intimate
portrait
of
Grimes."—Alex
Kotlowitz,New
York
Times
Book
Review
"A crisply written page turner . . . Rachlinpainstakingly renders Grimes's life behind bars . . . Deploying the sameprecision with which he documents Grimes's prison life, Rachlin recounts thearduous and complex work to move the wheels of justice . . . ReadGhost ofthe Innocent Manto follow its twisted path . . . but don't read for thegripping story alone . . . The National Registry of Exonerations calculatesthat over 18,000 years have been lost by innocent people serving time . . .Shouldn't we be better than this?"—Martha Anne Toll,NPR
"Intriguing . . . A gripping legal-thriller mystery .. . This is a story that profoundly elevates good-cause advocacy to greaterheights-to where innocent lives are saved . . . This empathetic book tells thestory of the beginnings of the movement to right a national crisis of wrongfulconvictions-and of one of its first victories . . . A fine piece ofinvestigative journalism."—Don Oldenburg,USA Today
"Rachlin vividly describes the anguish that would wellup in Grimes again and again during his twenty-four years behind bars . . . InRachlin's skilled hands, Grimes's story triggers indignation but also conferssolace, Grimes [himself] being one of the solacing features."—Dennis Drabelle,The Washington Post
"Dramatic and eye-opening . . . A hopeful story. . . By showing us that the specter of wrongful convictions involvesflesh-and-blood human beings,Ghost of the Innocent Manconfronts uswith the cruelest injustices of the criminal justice system, even as it alsoholds out hope for a more humane future."—San Francisco Chronicle
"One of the most powerful aspects ofGhostof the Innocent Manis its portrait of time behind bars--the transfers,delays, and letter-writing campaigns that form the scaffolding of lives inlimbo . . .A story so important and infuriating it is hard to look away."—Claudia Rowe,Seattle Times
"Ghost of the Innocent Manis nothing less than a masterpiece of investigative reporting and virtuosic writing. It is a book that brilliantly substantiates society's elemental promise to its citizenry-that we not have our freedoms wrongly taken from us. Benjamin Rachlin's book is Greek drama brought into our own times. It will change readers' lives, I think, and inspire them. It's that good."—Richard Ford
"Ghost of the Innocent Manis deeply researched and, more importantly, deeply felt. For both reasons and many more, it is a profound meditation on the human condition and a vital contribution to the literature. The endurance and fortitude of Willie Grimes surpass those of any athlete or explorer. The passages in which Christine Mumma assembles lawmen and legislatures of all different creeds to help resolve an urgent national crisis should make us all consider these current times as not just toxic and tragic but filled with the possibility of hope and redemption. In the end, Benjamin Rachlin takes us through the justice system in all its immutability and shows us the light we can wield should we so choose."
—Jeff Hobbs,author of the New York Times bestseller The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace
"Enraging, instructive, and profoundly moving,Ghost of the Innocent Manis a gripping lesson in the terrible costs of our flawed criminal justice system and the power that individuals have to change its course. The story of how a gentle soul like Willie J. Grimes received an undeserved life sentence is heartbreaking-full of human cruelty and carelessness and worse. But in the care and exactitude of Benjamin Rachlin's telling, it is also an inspiring call for readily achievable reform. With judicious compassion, he narrates the errors, omissions, and societal forces that led to this wrongful conviction, setting it all squarely in the context of a persistent national disgrace, and reminding us of our responsibility to work toward true justice. The effect is remarkable and unforgettable."—Eli Sanders,Pulitzer Prize winner and author of While the City Slept
"Ghostof the Innocent Manis an honest and critical look at our justicesystem. . . [and] a meticulously researched book. It is a must-read for everyAmerican who cares about justice."—The Washington Book Review
"An absorbing true-crime saga . . . Rachlin's debut combines a gripping legal drama with a penetrating exposé of the shoddy investigative and trial standards nationwide . . . His narrative offers a moving evocation of faith under duress."
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Grimes's story is both compelling and enraging, andhis thoughtfulness and persistence propel the story as much as thedetermination and passion of the lawyers working to establish the Commission .. . A sobering account of both a wrongful conviction and the structuralimpediments to fixing miscarriages of justice, with a gut punch of a closingparagraph."—Kate Sheehan,Library Journal (starred review)
"An absorbing story . . . In his movingfirst book, Rachlin, with confidence and care, relays both the terrifyingpersonal costs and complex legalities, so dependent on fallible humans, ofwrongful conviction and imprisonment."—Annie Bostrom,Booklist
"In this compelling tale of crime and punishment (of the wrong person), Rachlin explores a horrible case of wrongful conviction and ultimate exoneration. Willie Grimes maintained his innocence in his 1988 trial, but was convicted on flimsy evidence and served over 20 years behind bars. By twinning Grimes' story with the establishment of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission, which was responsible for overturning the conviction, Rachlin enlarges the book's scope, making it not merely a chronicle of a serious miscarriage of justice, but a broader indictment of a flawed system, and the prison industrial complex, that made it possible."—The National Book Review
"Ghost of the Innocent Manisplainspoken-frank, yes, but even more potently, unadorned--either when Grimes isspeaking or Rachlin is writing . . . The story is clean and tight, emotionallyand psychologically expressive and expressionistic, and easily visualized bythe mind's eye . . .A fine debut effort."—Peter Lewis,Barnes & Noble Review
"A crisply written page turner . . . Rachlinpainstakingly renders Grimes's life behind bars . . . Deploying the sameprecision with which he documents Grimes's prison life, Rachlin recounts thearduous and complex work to move the wheels of justice . . . ReadGhost ofthe Innocent Manto follow its twisted path . . . but don't read for thegripping story alone . . . The National Registry of Exonerations calculatesthat over 18,000 years have been lost by innocent people serving time . . .Shouldn't we be better than this?"—Martha Anne Toll,NPR
"Intriguing . . . A gripping legal-thriller mystery .. . This is a story that profoundly elevates good-cause advocacy to greaterheights-to where innocent lives are saved . . . This empathetic book tells thestory of the beginnings of the movement to right a national crisis of wrongfulconvictions-and of one of its first victories . . . A fine piece ofinvestigative journalism."—Don Oldenburg,USA Today
"Rachlin vividly describes the anguish that would wellup in Grimes again and again during his twenty-four years behind bars . . . InRachlin's skilled hands, Grimes's story triggers indignation but also conferssolace, Grimes [himself] being one of the solacing features."—Dennis Drabelle,The Washington Post
"Dramatic and eye-opening . . . A hopeful story. . . By showing us that the specter of wrongful convictions involvesflesh-and-blood human beings,Ghost of the Innocent Manconfronts uswith the cruelest injustices of the criminal justice system, even as it alsoholds out hope for a more humane future."—San Francisco Chronicle
"One of the most powerful aspects ofGhostof the Innocent Manis its portrait of time behind bars--the transfers,delays, and letter-writing campaigns that form the scaffolding of lives inlimbo . . .A story so important and infuriating it is hard to look away."—Claudia Rowe,Seattle Times
"Ghost of the Innocent Manis nothing less than a masterpiece of investigative reporting and virtuosic writing. It is a book that brilliantly substantiates society's elemental promise to its citizenry-that we not have our freedoms wrongly taken from us. Benjamin Rachlin's book is Greek drama brought into our own times. It will change readers' lives, I think, and inspire them. It's that good."—Richard Ford
"Ghost of the Innocent Manis deeply researched and, more importantly, deeply felt. For both reasons and many more, it is a profound meditation on the human condition and a vital contribution to the literature. The endurance and fortitude of Willie Grimes surpass those of any athlete or explorer. The passages in which Christine Mumma assembles lawmen and legislatures of all different creeds to help resolve an urgent national crisis should make us all consider these current times as not just toxic and tragic but filled with the possibility of hope and redemption. In the end, Benjamin Rachlin takes us through the justice system in all its immutability and shows us the light we can wield should we so choose."
—Jeff Hobbs,author of the New York Times bestseller The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace
"Enraging, instructive, and profoundly moving,Ghost of the Innocent Manis a gripping lesson in the terrible costs of our flawed criminal justice system and the power that individuals have to change its course. The story of how a gentle soul like Willie J. Grimes received an undeserved life sentence is heartbreaking-full of human cruelty and carelessness and worse. But in the care and exactitude of Benjamin Rachlin's telling, it is also an inspiring call for readily achievable reform. With judicious compassion, he narrates the errors, omissions, and societal forces that led to this wrongful conviction, setting it all squarely in the context of a persistent national disgrace, and reminding us of our responsibility to work toward true justice. The effect is remarkable and unforgettable."—Eli Sanders,Pulitzer Prize winner and author of While the City Slept
"Ghostof the Innocent Manis an honest and critical look at our justicesystem. . . [and] a meticulously researched book. It is a must-read for everyAmerican who cares about justice."—The Washington Book Review
"An absorbing true-crime saga . . . Rachlin's debut combines a gripping legal drama with a penetrating exposé of the shoddy investigative and trial standards nationwide . . . His narrative offers a moving evocation of faith under duress."
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Grimes's story is both compelling and enraging, andhis thoughtfulness and persistence propel the story as much as thedetermination and passion of the lawyers working to establish the Commission .. . A sobering account of both a wrongful conviction and the structuralimpediments to fixing miscarriages of justice, with a gut punch of a closingparagraph."—Kate Sheehan,Library Journal (starred review)
"An absorbing story . . . In his movingfirst book, Rachlin, with confidence and care, relays both the terrifyingpersonal costs and complex legalities, so dependent on fallible humans, ofwrongful conviction and imprisonment."—Annie Bostrom,Booklist
"In this compelling tale of crime and punishment (of the wrong person), Rachlin explores a horrible case of wrongful conviction and ultimate exoneration. Willie Grimes maintained his innocence in his 1988 trial, but was convicted on flimsy evidence and served over 20 years behind bars. By twinning Grimes' story with the establishment of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission, which was responsible for overturning the conviction, Rachlin enlarges the book's scope, making it not merely a chronicle of a serious miscarriage of justice, but a broader indictment of a flawed system, and the prison industrial complex, that made it possible."—The National Book Review
"Ghost of the Innocent Manisplainspoken-frank, yes, but even more potently, unadorned--either when Grimes isspeaking or Rachlin is writing . . . The story is clean and tight, emotionallyand psychologically expressive and expressionistic, and easily visualized bythe mind's eye . . .A fine debut effort."—Peter Lewis,Barnes & Noble Review