Facing the Wind: The True Story of Tragedy and Reconciliation

Salamon, Julie

ISBN 10: 1587881616 ISBN 13: 9781587881619

Publisher: Brilliance Audio Lib Edn, 2001

Synopsis

Robert and Mary Rowe’s second child, Christopher, was born with severe neurological and visual impairments. For many years, the Rowes’ courageous response to adversity set an example for a group of Brooklyn mothers who met to discuss the challenges of raising children with birth defects. Then Bob Rowe’s pressures — professional and personal — took their toll, and he fell into depression and, ultimately delusion. And one day he took a baseball bat and killed his three children and his wife. In Facing the Wind, Julie Salamon not only tells the Rowes’ tragic story but also explores the lives of others drawn into it: the mothers, a social worker with problems of her own, an ocularist — that is, a man who makes prosthetic eyes — a young woman who enters the novitiate out of shame over her childhood sexual activities, and a judge of unusual wisdom. Facing the Wind is a work of redemptive compassion and understanding. It addresses the questions of how human beings cope with the burdens that chance inflicts upon them and what constitutes moral and legal guilt and innocence.

About this title

Review:

A "New York Times Notable Book
A "Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001
A "Fresh Air Best Book of 2001
"A rare combination of superb reporting
and narrative skill."--"The New York Times Book Review
""Facing the Wind . . . elevates itself out of the true crime genre into literature."--"USA Today
"[Julie Salamon's] book is important not only for its lessons on the ravages of mental illness but for its ability to overturn our assumptions about evil, innocence, guilt and compassion."--"The Wall Street Journal
"This grim, gripping story is far more than a sensational murder case. . . .[Salamon] offers a rare, fascinating look at the daily lives of the men and women least inclined to forgive Bob Rowe--parents raising handicapped children."--"People
"Splendid . . . Life's cruelest blows are struck in these pages, and Salamon records them with scrupulous accuracy. . . . It's to her credit that she doesn't shy away from showing the aftershocks of these tragedies, and her triumph in "Facing the Wind is in showing how the human heart keeps throbbing anyway." "--Newsday

A "New York Times" Notable Book
A "Los Angeles Times" Best Book of 2001
A "Fresh Air" Best Book of 2001
A rare combination of superb reporting
and narrative skill. "The New York Times Book Review"
"Facing the Wind ." . . elevates itself out of the true crime genre into literature. "USA Today "
[Julie Salamon s] book is important not only for its lessons on the ravages of mental illness but for its ability to overturn our assumptions about evil, innocence, guilt and compassion. "The Wall Street Journal"
This grim, gripping story is far more than a sensational murder case. . . .[Salamon] offers a rare, fascinating look at the daily lives of the men and women least inclined to forgive Bob Rowe parents raising handicapped children. "People"
Splendid . . . Life s cruelest blows are struck in these pages, and Salamon records them with scrupulous accuracy. . . . It s to her credit that she doesn t shy away from showing the aftershocks of these tragedies, and her triumph in "Facing the Wind" is in showing how the human heart keeps throbbing anyway. " Newsday ""

A New York Times Notable Book
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001
A Fresh Air Best Book of 2001
"A rare combination of superb reporting
and narrative skill."--The New York Times Book Review
"Facing the Wind . . . elevates itself out of the true crime genre into literature."--USA Today
"[Julie Salamon's] book is important not only for its lessons on the ravages of mental illness but for its ability to overturn our assumptions about evil, innocence, guilt and compassion."--The Wall Street Journal
"This grim, gripping story is far more than a sensational murder case. . . .[Salamon] offers a rare, fascinating look at the daily lives of the men and women least inclined to forgive Bob Rowe--parents raising handicapped children."--People
"Splendid . . . Life's cruelest blows are struck in these pages, and Salamon records them with scrupulous accuracy. . . . It's to her credit that she doesn't shy away from showing the aftershocks of these tragedies, and her triumph in Facing the Wind is in showing how the human heart keeps throbbing anyway." --Newsday

From the Inside Flap:

Robert and Mary Rowe's second child, Christopher, was born with severe neurological and visual impairments. For many years, the Rowes' courageous response to adversity set an example for other parents of children with birth defects. Then the pressures on Bob Rowe--personal and professional--took their toll, and he fell into depression and, ultimately, delusion. And one day he took a baseball bat and killed his wife and three children. Julie Salamon deftly avoids sensationalism as she tells the Rowes' tragic story with intelligence, sympathy, and insight. Like all great literary journalism, Facing the Wind asks us to join its issues and examine our own lives and problems in the new, bright light that good writing always sheds.

About this edition

• Publisher: Brilliance Audio Lib Edn
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1587881616
• ISBN 13: 9781587881619
• Binding: Audio Cassette