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This title in other formats:

Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States

by Helen Prejean

Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana's Angola State Prison. In the months before Sonnier's death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying. At the same time, she came to know the families of the victims and the men whose job it was to execute him--men who often harbored doubts about the rightness of what they were doing.

Out of that dreadful intimacy comes a profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment. Confronting both the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved, the needs of a crime-ridden society and the Christian imperative of love, Dead Man Walking is an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty, a book that is both enlightening and devastating.

Review:

"Prejean is not preaching only to the converted....It is her experiences with the men on death row and the victims' families that convince both her and the reader that capital punishment serves no legitimate end, and it is here that being drawn so completely into her perspective...is sometimes effective." Hilary Hochman, Commonweal

Review:

"Touching and compelling." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"[Sister Helen Prejean] tells her story with a quiet eloquence, not indulging in diatribe or personal attack....Here is one voice for life. We really should need no other." Garry Wills, New York Review of Books

Synopsis:

In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana's Angola State Prison. In the months before Sonnier's death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying. At the same time, she came to know the families of the victims and the men whose job it was to execute him — men who often harbored doubts about the rightness of what they were doing.

Out of that dreadful intimacy comes a profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment. Confronting both the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved, the needs of a crime-ridden society and the Christian imperative of love, Dead Man Walking is an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty, a book that is both enlightening and devastating.

Description:

Includes bibliographicale references (p. 246-268) and index.

About the Author

Helen Prejean, C.S.J., was born and brought up in Baton Rouge, and has lived in Louisiana all her life. A member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille, she has long been involved in community work among the poor. Her contact with a man on Death Row in Angola State Prison led her to become an outspoken activist both against capital punishment and as an advocate for the families of murder victims. Prejean has lectured extensively on the subject of capital punishment and has appeared on ABC World News Tonight, 60 Minutes, National Public Radio, The Today Show, and an NBC special series on the death penalty. Her articles have appeared in a number of publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Baltimore Sun.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780679751311
Subtitle:
An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States
Author:
Prejean, Helen
Author:
Sister Helen Prejean
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Location:
New York :
Subject:
General
Subject:
Murder
Subject:
History & Theory
Subject:
United states
Subject:
Criminology
Subject:
Government and political science
Subject:
History, theory and practice
Subject:
Penology
Subject:
Criminal Law
Subject:
Capital punishment
Subject:
Capital punishment -- Religious aspects.
Subject:
Social science
Subject:
Murder - General
Subject:
Criminal Law - General
Subject:
Capital punishment -- United States.
Copyright:
Edition Description:
1st Vintage Books ed.
Series Volume:
RCP035
Publication Date:
May 1994
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
288
Dimensions:
8.04x5.14x.64 in. .45 lbs.

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