I am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility - Hardcover

Meili, Trisha

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743244370 ISBN 13: 9780743244374

Publisher: Simon & Schuster International, 2003

Synopsis

For the first time since the assault in 1989 that stunned New Yorkers and the world, the Central Park Jogger reveals her identity and delivers a powerful chronicle of her experience and her triumphant recovery. It was the end of a long day and she was just out for a run. At 9.35 p.m. on April 19, 1989, a young woman jogs alone near 102nd Street in Central Park. She is attacked, raped, savagely beaten and left for dead. She is found hours later by two men wandering the park. When she arrives in the emergency room her body temperature is 85 degrees, she is in a coma and has lost so much blood that the doctors simply cannot comprehend why she is still alive. I AM THE CENTRAL PARK JOGGER takes readers back to the scene of a harrowing crime and recounts the mesmerizing, often heart-wrenching story of human strength and transcendent recovery that involved a family, a hospital, a city, in fact an entire nation of supporters. Even today the Central Park Jogger is still in the news, with the startling new revelations about the crime and the people who were convicted of it. But for the Jogger the crime is not the climax, it's the beginning of her journey. This indelible, moving, tough-minded self portrait weaves the story of emergency room workers, doctors, nurses, investigators, family, colleagues, friends and strangers into a haunting narrative not about vengeance or hate but about hope and possibility, about the mystery of life and its ability to endure.

About this title

Review:

I Am the Central Park Jogger tells the real-life story of a young woman who was brutally assaulted and raped while jogging in New York's Central Park in April of 1989,. The attack captured headlines around the world as the anonymous "Central Park Jogger" fought to recover from massive injuries that left her near death. Fourteen years later, in this first-person account, Trisha Meifi breaks her silence to discuss the incident in her own words and reveal who she was before the attack and who she has become as a result of it. Meifi tells the story of a competitive and driven young executive at a finance firm whose life was destroyed, and how she ultimately rebuilt it. Passages in which Meifi is reunited years later with the doctors and nurses who saved her life are especially compelling, as are her accounts of testifying in court and her first run after the incident. While her candour is remarkable and certainly moving, it's worth noting what this book does not include. Meifi can provide no detail of the actual attacks (she has no memory of them), she has little to say about the racial controversy her case ignited and she only briefly mentions the fact that, during the writing of this book, the convictions of her attackers were vacated after another man confessed to the crime. But these are not necessarily omissions; they are simply not central to Trisha Meifi's highly readable story of tragedy and, ultimately, triumph. I Am the Central Park Jogger is not just a book for New Yorkers curious to finally hear from "The Jogger"; it's an inspirational tale of overcoming enormous obstacles and getting back on the road again. --John Moe, Amazon.com

Review:

"A moving account... an elegant testimony." (Leslie Jamison The New York Times)

"The best hero stories are never about facing and vanquishing an enemy, though that might be the narrative. The real showdown is with one's self... Trisha Meili had to figure out why life was worth the pain of forging ahead when giving in offered painless escape... Maybe until you're in such a predicament, you can't mine your soul for its hidden steel."

  (San Francisco Chronicle)

"Told without anger or resentment, it will comfort and inspire anyone who has suffered a horrible trauma -- and many who haven't."  (The New York Times Book Review)

"The tale of her recovery is also a passionate and inspirational guide for those suffering from traumatic brain injuries and other seemingly insurmountable, debilitating conditions."

  (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

"The book is inspirational and encompasses the power of the human spirit. Through it, Meili is seen not as a victim, but as a survivor."

  (San Antonio Express-News)

"Riveting."

  (Orlando Sentinel)

"Inspiring others in their recovery appears to be [Meili's] role in what she calls her 'second life.' She has made a good start with this book."
  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster International
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0743244370
• ISBN 13: 9780743244374
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304