A Dream of the Tattered Man: Stories from Georgia’s Death Row by Randolph Loney
2001
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Donate
I really could not appreciate this book. Almost everything about it grated on me, and I felt like I would never get through it. Each page was a little piece of punishment. Last month wasn’t the first time I had picked up the book, but it was the first time I made it through.
I bought it when I was on a local author kick. It was an unfortunate time in my life. I read a lot of shit. I know there are great local authors, but I was having trouble picking them out of the crowd. I thought this book would be right up my alley. At the time, It was a recent discovery for me that I was against the death penalty. Years later, when I finally read this book, I almost had trouble maintaining that stance. It is really too bad since the author is also anti-capital punishment. We were just so disconnected from each other!
Just to assure you (or horrify you), I still do not support the death penalty. I was able to reason with myself and push this book out of it. Just make sure you don’t throw this one at somebody in an attempt to persuade them to stand up and fight.
A quick list of problems I had with the book:
• Too much God, though the author tried not to do this
• Too much personal struggle (mostly guilt), impossible to empathize with
• Too much name-dropping
• Too many useless details/adjectives—descriptions of the rain
• Too many quotes
Just steer clear!
