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Title: Losing Matt Shepard by Beth Loffreda ISBN: 0-231-11859-7 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 October, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (16 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Reclaiming Laramie
Comment: Those looking for a journalistic treatment of this subject, exposing sensational details and vivid personalities, will be disappointed in this book. It is an even-handed, somewhat reserved reflection on the events that swept the people of Laramie, Wyoming, into the national spotlight when Matt Shepard was murdered in October 1998. While there are several themes in the book, the chief one is the hysteria of the national media, which transformed the story of a young man's beating and death into a horrific hate crime, with all the over-simplification, instant analysis, and easy generalizations of highly competitive news organizations. Understanding the vast complexity of the social context that the murder emerged from and its meaning in terms of the people who make up the fabric of that community have been left for more thoughtful observers, writers and thinkers like the author, who can with greater knowledge, sensitivity, and analytical abilities address the central question, what REALLY happened?
Given the polarizing issue of sexual orientation, it's easy for readers to fault Loffreda for her refusal to reduce the subject to a black-and-white matter of homophobia. She makes an interesting argument about hate crimes, using Matt's murder as a way to show that the notion of a crime motivated purely by hate is an abstraction, and what really motivated this murder was a whole tapestry of motives having to do with social class, intent to rob, upbringing, a macho culture, and a depressed social and economic environment. If you boil it down to anything, what seems to be at the root of the crime is a simple wish to bully, intimidate, and victimize someone perceived as weaker. Where is the hate and where is the bias in all this, she wonders. It's there, yes, but so is much else that can't be addressed by labeling it as a bias crime.
Much of the book is also an attempt to represent the distinctive "lifestyle" of gay men and women living in a rural, thinly populated state, where being "out" is not an option, and there is a generally held belief that homosexuality does not exist there. Involved as she is with the gay community in Laramie, the author is familiar with many gay men and women who appear in the pages of her book, each expressing varying responses to the murder of one of their own. What's instructive is that "gay community" is a misnomer here, where there essentially is none. There is little organization and few resources to make a difference either socially or politically. Instead, national organizations and their celebrity representatives swoop in to capitalize on Matt's murder in the interest of their own agendas, both pro- and anti-gay. Matt gets "lost" in many ways, and this is only one of them.
Loffreda does not set out to win back Matt Shepard, but she does a lot to recover Laramie itself. She reclaims a town in its own terms, not those of the media. While she struggles with residents' resistance to change and the inappropriateness of their responses (emphasizing emotion rather than action), she acknowledges a wide-spread decency, a feeling of remorse, and a genuine wish to overcome complacency. For the gay men and women of Laramie, not a lot changes. There is still fear and anger, to go along with invisibility. But there is also love of this place on the wind-swept prairie, and a belief that for all its drawbacks, this is home.
I recommend this book for its attempt to undo the damage done by the occupying army of the national media. In that respect, it makes an interesting companion to the film "Bowling for Columbine."
Rating: 2
Summary: Prissy, scolding tone
Comment: I was disappointed. Having heard that the writer, an English professor, had approached her project like a reporter--that she had interviewed Laramie townspeople and M.S.'s fellow students and had quoted them extensively--I was hoping that the town and campus would come alive on the page, like they would in the hands of a good novelist. Doesn't happen. All the voices she quotes sound interchangeable (the quotes sound cleaned up), and the characterizations are watery, indistinct. She's no Janet Malcolm. The other weakness is the author's prissy, scolding tone, in which she appears, annoyingly, every few paragraphs, invariably announcing her appearance with "It seemed to me..." constructions, all of which end with her officiously correcting some misconception that has seized (a) the people of Laramie, or (b) the people outside of Laramie. All of which would be tolerable if she had anything genuinely original to say. But she didn't. It's the same tired postmodern, deconstructionist-era, gender/sexuality-is-a-social-construction rap you've heard a million times.
Rating: 4
Summary: Author Missed Matthew Shepard
Comment: The author lost Matthew Shepard; he doesn't appear in the book, and neither does his murder. He is a ghost. Which is a true shame. Most of the book is softly pitched post-modern pyrotechnics. Loffreda avoids the hard questions, and omits crucial information to understanding what happened that cold, cold night. Loffreda dodges the role religion played in Matt's murder. One of Matt's killers was an Eagle Scout and an elder in the Mormon church. Also Loffreda makes a great deal about the fact that the killers attacked two latinos after killing Matt, as if racism is tied to homophobia. We aren't told that the latinos were homophobic thugs themselves, out slashing tires and looking for trouble. This book isn't about Matthew or even his murder, but if you can get past the author's sideways approach to the subject of homophobia it is a worthwhile read.
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Title: The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman ISBN: 0375727191 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 11 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title:The Laramie Project ASIN: B000067D0Y Publisher: HBO Home Video Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.03 |
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Title: From Hate Crimes to Human Rights: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard by Mary E., Ph.D. Swigonski, Robin S., Ph.D. Mama, Kelly, Ward, Robin S. Mama, Kelly Ward, Matthew Shepard ISBN: 1560232579 Publisher: Haworth Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Readings in Gender and Culture in America by Nancy Patricia McKee, Linda Stone, Nancy P. McKee ISBN: 0130404853 Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 29 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $47.00 |
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Title: Blood & Tears: Poems for Matthew Shepard by Scott Gibson ISBN: 1891305158 Publisher: Painted Leaf Press Pub. Date: June, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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