Gone Boy: A Walkabout: Amazon.de: Gregory Gibson: Englische Bücher

From Kirkus Reviews

A father transforms the attempt to fathom his sons senseless murder into a complex, surprising account of memory and discovery amid dark American corners of insanity, gun violence, and malfeasance. Gibsons staid life as an antiquarian bookseller was demolished by the death of his 18-year-old son, Galen, in a 1992 mass shooting at Simons Rock College by student Wayne Lo. With the school uncommunicative, his family lost to grief, and their civil suit against the college stalemated, he descended into drinking, dark fantasy, and loosed moorings, then ultimately righted himself by embarking upon a (vehicular) walkabout in an effort to understand Galens death. This results in a meandering narrative in which Gibsons propulsive loss is leavened by wry humor and increasing awareness of his situations contemporary singular absurdity. He explores Los path to murder, the ramifications of firearms availability, and the role of the college, law enforcement, and psychology in the cases disposition, always with startling, engrossing results. Though his familys heartbreak at Galens loss makes for tough reading, its to Gibsons credit as a debut author that his rangy prose and concise aggregate of observation draws one in thoroughly. Rarely maudlin, his book resonates with the paradoxical relationship between fathers and sons and the harder-edged interactions among todays confused, rigidly bohemian youth. And his attempts to comprehend the terrible enigma of Wayne Lo are also invaluable, given that Los act is practically a template for the mass shootings that have become a pox on the nation. Yet theres another dark story here: an instance in which present-day hesitancies toward judgment and action result in a catastrophic institutional failure. Gibson finds numerous ways in which college officials thwarted security personnel and missed opportunities to interrupt Lo in his weapon acquisition. (After years of insurance-company wrangling, an undisclosed settlement was reached.) This book should be seriously considered by education professionals, as well as by violence survivors who might benefit from Gibsons singular odyssey. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal

On December 14, 1992, during a shooting rampage at Simon's Rock College, Gibson's 18-year-old son, Galen, was shot and killed. In the aftermath, Gibson, an antiquarian bookseller in Gloucester, MA, embarked on this "walkabout" in order to make sense of his grief. His son's murder, he writes, was "a terrible blow and the greatest teaching the world had to offer. It was God's Will, but it had happened in the world and so it had causes....I figured out that if I concentrated on the worldly chain of causes I might finally work my way up to the God's Will part." In the course of his inquiry into guns, violence, privacy, and responsibility, Gibson decides that the real lesson is that we have to find forgiveness and "take the energy this horrible thing had released and turn it around somehow and send it back out there, clean, so the world might be a better place for it." An emotionally moving, important story; recommended for larger public libraries and academic libraries.ARobert C. Jones, formerly of Central Missouri State Univ., Warrensburg
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Courage 8. April 2000

Von John Carl Roat

Format:Gebundene Ausgabe

Any good parents worst NIGHTMARE, the early loss of a child. Gregory Gibson has the courage to take a hard, well written, look a himself and our society. If you have the courage it takes to do some honest thinking, READ THIS BOOK!

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Heartbreaking, tender 27. Juli 2000

Von Mary G. Longorio

Gregory Gibson was awakened by every parents' worst nightmare...his son, Galen, has been shot and killed on the campus of the small college he was attending. Once the shock wore off, the only way he could cope and manage his grief was to go on a walkabout..a trip to discover the facts behind his son's senseless murder. As he sets out on his journey of discovery he lets us in on how he feels, how is family is handling the loss, the motives behind the quest. The very fact that he keeps changing and refocusing the intent of his search is a story of coming to terms with a senseless act and the finality of death. It is heartbreaking to hear him discribe his wife. Annie, as she finds comfort in the world of Publishers' Clearing House mailers, his children begin to venture out into the world. As the story unfolds, and Mr. Gibson finds more and more truth about Galen's death, he also comes in contact with the many people who had an unwitting role in his son's death, hears their story and the pain they also feel. People are not as you might think. It is a sad fact of life that many of the horrors of life do not have a pat explination ...sometimes we have to accept that evil does walk among us, and we try not to succumb to it's pull. It is a a triumph of spirit.

Friends of Galen 11. Mai 2000

Von Renee Brunk

This is a difficult but neccessary book to read for anyone who knew Galen, or attended Simon's Rock. I left Simon's Rock a semester before the shooting. Gregory Gibson has actually undertaken the tasks that I contemplated repeatedly over the course of the last eight years, not only doing the legwork but also eloquently and honestly telling the story. This book is a service to anyone affected by the shooting, and to a society that desperately needs to learn these lessons. If you knew Galen-e-mail me--auntrenee@hotmail.com

the unspoken victims

Not too much has been said about the other victims, the hapless young boys who were friendly with Wayne Lo before the murders. Lesen Sie weiter...

Am 10. Mai 2000 ver�ffentlicht

wow!

Gregory Gibson takes the reader on a painful journey and makes it bearable.I appreciate his objectivity and honesty. Lesen Sie weiter...

Ver�ffentlicht am 18. April 2000 von a reader from rowley

Looking only for the answers he wants to find

Puts one in mind of a great line from a Graham Parker song: "Some people are in charge of pens/Who shouldn't be in charge of brooms/They have the nerve to rip up a man's... Lesen Sie weiter...

Am 24. M�rz 2000 ver�ffentlicht

We are all the authors of this story.

As a father and social worker for thirty years, I have always been profoundly disturbed by the lack of understanding and avoidance of human aggression among those individuals and... Lesen Sie weiter...

Am 6. Dezember 1999 ver�ffentlicht

Thoughtfuly, eloquent, wise

One of the best books I have ever read. The author has a quiet courage and wisdom he earned the hard way and couples it with artful prose. Lesen Sie weiter...

Ver�ffentlicht am 25. November 1999 von D. C. Carrad

Beautiful and complex, . . .

Gibson writes poignantly about how he processes the death of his son. The book (thankfully) doesn't purport to offer answers. It does raise questions. Lesen Sie weiter...

Ver�ffentlicht am 8. November 1999 von Mary H. Mason

A Fantastic, well written epic

I received this book as a present, one of those books that should sit indefinitly on the table adjacent to your bed. Lesen Sie weiter...

Ver�ffentlicht am 21. Oktober 1999 von Stefan Wolfe

Five stars is not enough

This is a truly amazing book. I will not go on and tell you how wonderful it is. Just read it. Gregory Gibson is the voice of sanity in this country's insane need for guns.

Ver�ffentlicht am 13. Oktober 1999 von James C. Costa

a welcome dose of clarity infuses a muddled subject

I was not privy to the horrible events at Simon's Rock, but in the past year I have become friends with several people who were. Lesen Sie weiter...

Ver�ffentlicht am 27. September 1999 von durgaakv

Gone Boy: A Walkabout [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

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