The Fact of a Body, Alex MarzanoLesnevich
The Fact of a Body, Alex MarzanoLesnevich
38 Rating(s)
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The Fact of a Body
A Murder and a Memoir

Author: Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

Narrator: Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

Unabridged: 10 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/16/2017


Synopsis

"This book is a marvel. The Fact of a Body is equal parts gripping and haunting and will leave you questioning whether any one story can hold the full truth." -- Celeste Ng, author of the New York Times bestselling Everything I Never Told You

Before Alex Marzano-Lesnevich begins a summer job at a law firm in Louisiana, working to help defend men accused of murder, they think their position is clear. The child of two lawyers, Alex is staunchly anti-death penalty. But the moment convicted murderer Ricky Langley’s face flashes on the screen as Alex reviews old tapes—the moment they hear him speak of his crimes—they are overcome with the feeling of wanting him to die. Shocked by their reaction, Alex digs deeper and deeper into the case. Despite their vastly different circumstances, something in Langley's story is unsettlingly, uncannily familiar.

Crime, even the darkest and most unsayable acts, can happen to any one of us. As Alex pores over the facts of the murder, they find themself thrust into the complicated narrative of Ricky’s childhood. And by examining the details of Ricky’s case, Alex is forced to face their own story, to unearth long-buried family secrets, and reckon with a past that colors their view of Ricky's crime.

But another surprise awaits: Alex wasn’t the only one who saw their life in Ricky’s.

An intellectual and emotional thriller that is also a different kind of murder mystery, THE FACT OF A BODY is an audiobook not only about how the story of one crime was constructed -- but about how we grapple with our own personal histories. Along the way it tackles questions about the nature of forgiveness, and if a single narrative can ever really contain something as definitive as the truth. This groundbreaking, heart-stopping work, ten years in the making, shows how the law is more personal than we would like to believe -- and the truth more complicated, and powerful, than we could ever imagine.

This program is read by the author.

About Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

A 2014 National Endowment for the Arts fellow, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich has received a Rona Jaffe Award and has twice been a fellow at both MacDowell and Yaddo. Their essays appear in the New York Times, Oxford American, and the anthologies TRUE CRIME and WAVEFORM: Twenty-first Century Essays by Women, as well as many other publications. They received their JD from Harvard, their MFA at Emerson College, and their BA from Columbia University. They now live in Boston, where they teach at Grub Street and in the graduate public policy program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Colin on May 19, 2017

As I was nearing the conclusion of this book, I dreaded the prospect of reviewing it. As is obvious to anyone who has read the book, its subject matter and the author's personal experiences make it difficult to criticize. So before going further, I would like to make clear that my dislike of the boo......more

Goodreads review by Mike on February 06, 2017

If you are a fan of true crime, this book is excellent. If you are a fan of memoir, this book is excellent. If you are a fan of legal thrillers, this book is excellent. If you are a fan of beautiful language, this book is excellent. If you are a fan of page-turners, this book is excellent. If you ar......more

Goodreads review by Barbara on March 22, 2023

WARNING: This review contains information that's mentioned in many discussions of the book, but some readers might consider the revelations spoilers. So - If minor spoilers bother you - stop reading now. Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich "The Fact of a Body" melds the true crime story of child molester/mur......more

Goodreads review by Canadian Jen on June 17, 2019

A memoir and a Murder. Two separate lives that disturbingly cross over. Two lives that live with past horrific secrets that have hauntingly shaped who they are. One a murderer. One a law student. Marzano-Lesnevich is a law intern when her path crosses with Ricky Langley, child molester and murderer,......more

Goodreads review by Chelsea on January 17, 2020

Maybe a 3.5 but rounding up because this was really well written. I need to sit on my thoughts about this one for a minute before I give a concrete review because there is SO much to unpack in this book.......more


Quotes

"This book is a marvel. With unflinching precision and immense compassion, Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich peels apart both a murder case and her own experience to reveal how we try to make sense of the past. The Fact of a Body is equal parts gripping and haunting and will leave you questioning whether any one story can hold the full truth."
--Celeste Ng, author of the New York Times bestselling Everything I Never Told You

"The Fact of a Body is unlike any murder story I've ever read, a masterpiece of both reportage and memoir, a book that could only be written by an author with Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich's staggering gifts: a relentless reporter with a law degree from Harvard, a poet's understanding of the cadence of a line, and a novelist's gift for empathy. Walter Benjamin famously said that all great works of art either dissolve a genre or invent one. This book does both, and its greatness is undeniable."
--Justin St. Germain, author of Son of a Gun

"The Fact of a Body is a remarkable act of witness, an anatomy of silence and the violence it abets, a book of both public and private accountings. Rejecting the false comfort of certainty, it confronts the inadequacy of all our tools for fathoming not just unforgivable crimes, but the baffling, human grace that can forgive them. This is a profound and riveting book."
-- Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You


Awards

  • Lambda Literary Award - Nominee
  • Lambda Literary Awards - Winner