Amazing, True, Tearful (Sleepers - Lorenzo Carcaterra)

Member Name: ScottyBoy.

Product:	Sleepers - Lorenzo Carcaterra
Date:	10/10/03 (2218 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Outstanding Read, True

Disadvantages: You will not get any sleep. You'll be reading and reading and...

The first thing that appears evident about Sleepers is that it is a true story. This is determined from observation of the front. Turning to the back of the novel will then give you a taste of what this remarkable, compelling story is about.

Lorenzo Carcaterra is a journalist-turned-writer. He is author of such books as ?Street Boys? and ?a safe place?. All of which, including Sleepers are based on true encounters and experiences. The fact that Sleepers is a true story makes it all that more interesting and remarkable.

Before explaining the concept of the novel, I believe it would be beneficial to touch on the title- ?Sleepers?. The term is associated with criminals. Its first meaning is an out-of-town hit man who spends the night after a local contract is completed. The second definition is a juvenile sentenced to serve any period longer than nine months in a state-managed facility. The book explores both meanings.

?Sleepers? is separated into 3 books, categorized with their associated content.
The first is of 1963. It follows the encounters of a true, strong relationship between four boys; Lorenzo ?Shakes? Carcaterra, Michael Sullivan, John Reilly and Thomas ?Butter? Marcano, brought up on one of New York?s most toughest neighbourhoods: Hell?s Kitchen. The book follows the boys as they share everything from the laughter, the pranks, the fights and the bruises of an impoverished childhood. One day, however, the games stopped. A prank, laughter one minute, turned into a crime the next. A crime, for which each would be punished. They where all convicted and sent to a reformery school: The Wilkinson Home for Boys. It is here, where the nightmares begin, the regrets and the trauma become evident. Of which book two explores.

Book two is tremendously disturbing. As it is at The Wilkinson Home For Boys, that each of the four, experience systematic mental, physical and sexual abuse from the prison guards. Each day is a living
hell for the boys. Each day a regret for carrying out the prank, one of many, but the last they would ever do together. The abuse changed the lives and directions of the boys. At thirteen years old, it was the end of their childhood. They would be transformed forever.

The third book explores the directions in which the boys took after they were released from The Wilkinson Home. It is set twelve years after their release. It comes as a shock to the reader, as to who each of the boys have turned into. One has become a journalist, one a lawyer and two killers for the mob. In a chance encounter they come face to face with one of their torturers and shoot him dead in front of several witnesses. From there the story turns into a thrilling courtroom drama, a climax as gripping as any John Grisham novel.

Sleepers is a compelling, powerful, often shocking true story. It is told in such a way, that it becomes a mission to break away from reading. If you haven?t read it, then do so. Go now. Take a trip to your local WHSmith, or log onto Amazon and buy it. It?ll only set you back £6, and will give you something to treasure and remember for a long time.

I?m off to watch the film now, starring Robert De Niro and Brad Pitt. I truly hope that the motion picture is as good and in parallel with the text.


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SLEEPERS (Arrow)
Lorenzo Carcaterra
RRP: £5.99

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?I felt Nokes pulling at me, hitting me with two closed fists, his mouth biting my shoulders and neck, drawing blood. The front of his head butted against the back of mine with every painful thrust, my nose and cheeks scraping the sharp edges of my cot. One of his knees, the pointy end of his belt now wrapped around it, was wedged against the fleshy part of my thigh, stabbing into it, blood coming out in spurts.
A part of all of us was left in that room that night. A night now far re
moved by the passage of time. A night that will never be removed from my mind.
The night of July 24, 1968.
The summer of love
My last night at the Wilkinson Home for Boys.?


Sleepers(Lorenzo Carcaterra), book two, page 235.

Summary: