A Violent Act - Hardcover

Wilkinson, Alec

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679415076 ISBN 13: 9780679415077

Publisher: Knopf, 1993

Synopsis

The story of Mike Wayne Jackson, a man who killed his probation officer and continued on a killing spree that took him from Indianapolis to Missouri, looks into the heart of American violence and its consequences. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. Tour.

About this title

Review:

When we read about violence, we hunger for explanations that will reassure us that violence is understandable, perhaps preventable. Yet this elegantly written book--about a madman who kills his probation officer then goes on a rampage of carjackings, robberies, and more murders across southern Indiana--offers only facts. As Christopher Lehmann-Haupt writes in the New York Times, "Surprisingly, one of the most powerful effects of A Violent Act is to make you feel how callous to violence we've been made.... By telling an apparently simple story yet not presuming to understand what made it happen, Mr. Wilkinson has restored the mystery and terror of violence to their true and properly overwhelming scales." This is true crime as an accomplished nonfiction writer tells it (portions of the book were first published in The New Yorker): in a soft tone of voice, with silences in which the pain and horror can be keenly felt.

From Library Journal:

What causes violence and what are the consequences of that violence? Wilkinson ( The Riverkeeper , LJ 8/1/91) tells the story of Mike Wayne Jackson, whose adult life was characterized by acts of rage, followed by imprisonment or commitment to a mental institution. Society, within its limits, tried to cope with Jackson, offering as much assistance as possible, but his behavior became more and more erratic. Ultimately, he killed his probation officer and then went on a rampage, killing two more people. After eight days of sheer terror for the small town he hid in, Jackson was found dead, killed by his own hand. But this book is also the story of the dead probation officer's family. Tom Gahl left a wife and two young sons, who have struggled to make their lives whole but who are constantly haunted by that one senseless act of violence. This is a powerfully written, searing story of violence and grief that forces the reader to confront the realities of an America not totally in control. Recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/92.
- Sandra K. Lindheimer, Middlesex Law Lib., Cambridge
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0679415076
• ISBN 13: 9780679415077
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 225