By Ronan Farrow
I waited not-so-patiently to read this book, because I was caught up when the New Yorker started releasing the survivor stories. I expected to have to sift through the author’s personal biases to get to the facts. I was kind of expecting it to be sensationalized and a vehicle for the author to pat himself on the back for being on the right side of history. But what I found instead was a seemingly honest account. Farrow wrote this in a way that read like the plot of a movie instead of a list of facts and sources. But I appreciated the artistic presentation, and never felt like it was harmful to the credibility of the story.
This book covers so much more than just the Weinstein story. I applaud Farrow for his ability to lay out the facts and make the connections in an interesting and honest way. Never did I feel that he was trying to force a conclusion or push any kind of personal agenda. This book exposes abuses of power from people on either side of party lines. Men and women both were found culpable. I read this squinty eyed, looking for any place that maybe he tried to gloss over someone’s misdeeds, but I never found it. He didn’t even try to make himself look like a saint. There were several honest moments where he described struggling between making a choice he knew was right and giving up for the sake of saving his job.
Reading through his interviews with the victims was tough. However, I thought the way he wrote their stories was respectful and well done. It feels strange to talk about this book and say “It was so good!” because the content is so awful. But really, I think this book was extremely well written, and an example of why honest journalism is so important. This book could be a study in journalism, history, and sociology classes in no time.
Purchase Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators from Amazon.
Comentarios