| Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate Contributor(s): Prejean, Helen (Author), Tutu, Desmond (Preface by), Sarandon, Susan (Afterword by) |
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ISBN: 0679751319 ISBN-13: 9780679751311 Publisher: Vintage OUR PRICE: $15.30 Product Type: Paperback Published: May 1994 Annotation: 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. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - True Crime | Murder - General - Social Science | Criminology - Law | Criminal Law - General |
| Dewey: 364.660 |
| LCCN: 93043877 |
| Lexile Measure: 1140 |
| Physical Information: 0.7" H x 5.1" W x 8" (0.50 lbs) 304 pages |
| Themes: - Theometrics - Catholic - Theometrics - Mainline - Theometrics - Evangelical - Cultural Region - Deep South - Cultural Region - Gulf Coast - Cultural Region - South - Geographic Orientation - Louisiana - Religious Orientation - Catholic - Religious Orientation - Christian |
| Accelerated Reader Info |
| Quiz #: 59975 Reading Level: 7.6 Interest Level: Upper Grades Point Value: 18.0 |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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. She also came to know the families of the victims and the men whose job it was to execute--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. Here Sister Helen confronts both the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved, the fears of a society shattered by violence and the Christian imperative of love. On its original publication in 1993, Dead Man Walking emerged as an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty. Now, some two decades later, this story--which has inspired a film, a stage play, an opera and a musical album--is more gut-wrenching than ever, stirring deep and life-changing reflection in all who encounter it. |