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

Tillman, Laura

Softcover

ISBN 10: 147215214X ISBN 13: 9781472152145

Publisher: Corsair, 2017

Synopsis

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 rundown, and in their aftermath a consensus developed in the community that it should be destroyed. It was a place, neighbours felt, that was plagued by spiritual cancer.

In 2008, journalist Laura Tillman covered the story for The Brownsville Herald. The questions it raised haunted her, particularly one asked by the sole member of the city's Heritage Council to oppose demolition: is there any such thing as an evil building? Her investigation took her far beyond that question, revealing the nature of the toll that the crime exacted on a city already wracked with poverty. It sprawled into 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.

With meticulous attention and stunning compassion, Tillman surveyed those surrounding the crimes, speaking with the lawyers who tried the case, the family's neighbours and relatives and teachers, even one of the murderers: John Allen Rubio himself, whom she corresponded with for years and ultimately met in person. The result is a brilliant exploration of some of our age's most important social issues, from poverty to mental illness to the death penalty, and a beautiful, profound meditation on the truly human forces that drive them. It is disturbing, insightful, and mesmerizing in equal measure.

About this title

About the Author

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.

From the Back Cover

'This remarkable book is built of diligent reporting and sensitive reckoning; its questions haunted me long after I finished reading it' Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams

On 11 March, 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 rundown, and in their aftermath a consensus developed in the community that it should be destroyed.


In 2008, journalist Laura Tillman covered the story. Her investigation sprawled into 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.


In The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts, Tillman speaks to lawyers, relatives, neighbours, and even one of the murderers: John Allen Rubio himself. The result is a brilliant exploration of some of our age's most important social issues, from poverty to mental illness to the death penalty, and a profound meditation on the truly human forces that drive them.

Edition details

• Publisher: Corsair
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 147215214X
• ISBN 13: 9781472152145
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256