The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts, Laura Tillman
The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts, Laura Tillman
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts
Murder and Memory in an American City

Author: Laura Tillman

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Unabridged: 6 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/05/2016


Synopsis

“A haunted, haunting examination of mental illness and murder in a more or less ordinary American city…Mature and thoughtful…A Helter Skelter for our time, though without a hint of sensationalism—unsettling in the extreme but written with confidence and deep empathy” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

On March 11, 2003, in Brownsville, Texas—one of America’s poorest cities—John Allen Rubio and Angela Camacho murdered their three young children. The apartment building in which the brutal crimes took place was already run down, and in their aftermath a consensus developed in the community that it should be destroyed.

In 2008, journalist Laura Tillman covered the story for The Brownsville Herald. The questions it raised haunted her and set her on a six-year inquiry into the larger significance of such acts, ones so difficult to imagine or explain that their perpetrators are often dismissed as monsters alien to humanity. Tillman spoke with the lawyers who tried the case, the family’s neighbors and relatives and teachers, even one of the murderers: John Allen Rubio himself, whom she corresponded with for years and ultimately met in person. Her investigation is “a dogged attempt to understand what happened, a review of the psychological, sociological and spiritual explanations for the crime…a meditation on the death penalty and on the city of Brownsville” Star Tribune (Minneapolis).

The result is a brilliant exploration of some of our age’s most important social issues and a beautiful, profound meditation on the truly human forces that drive them. “This thought-provoking…book exemplifies provocative long-form journalism that does not settle for easy answers” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

About Laura Tillman

Laura Tillman is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, and Pacific Standard, among other publications. Originally from Maplewood, New Jersey, she began her career at The Brownsville Herald in South Texas. She holds a BA in International Studies from Vassar College and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College. The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts is her first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Esil on March 29, 2016

When I described The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts to my husband, he said "I didn't know that you read true crime". I hadn't thought of it as true crime. I requested it on Netgalley because it sounded interesting, and I like to read pretty much anything that will teach me something about a part of the......more

Goodreads review by ElphaReads on July 05, 2016

I don't know how familiar you guys are with the concept of journo-procedurals, but I had never heard of it until I was reading up on THE LONG SHADOW OF SMALL GHOSTS by Laura Tillman. Essentially, what an author of this genre does is writes about the process of writing a story, and instead of focusin......more

This is a true crime book for people who don't read true crime. If you go in expecting a lot of details about the murder of three children by their parents or the court case, you're going to be disappointed. Rather, this is an unflinching look at class and poverty in America, and some of its subsequ......more