Missoula

Starred review from April 27, 2015
Sexual-assault victims are routinely met with indifference and incomprehension, according to this impassioned study of campus rape. Journalist Krakauer (Into Thin Air) follows a rash of rapes at the University of Montana in Missoula from 2010 to 2012, events that sparked a furor and a Justice Department investigation; Krakauer sticks with two cases in particular through agonizing courtroom dramas, spotlighting the two obstacles to justice. The first is haphazard investigation, made worse by the callousness and suspicion about the motives of women making rape allegations on the part of the university administration, the Missoula Police, and the county attorney's office. (The county's chief sexual-assault attorney quit and joined the defense in a high-profile rape case against the University's star quarterback.) The second is the counterintuitive behavior of traumatized victims, which often undermines their claims. (The quarterback's accuser failed to call for help from her nearby roommate, then sent an innocuous text message with a smiley icon and drove her alleged assailant home after the attack.) Krakauer's evocative reporting, honed to a fine edge of anger, vividly conveys the ordeal of victims and their ongoing psychological dislocations. The result is a hard-hitting true-crime exposé that looks underneath the he-said-she-said to get at the sexist assumptions that help cover up and enable these crimes.

The bestselling journalist dives into the acquaintance rape scandal that enveloped the University of Montana and members of its football team, coupled with the inability (or refusal?) of local prosecutors to convict accused rapists. In May 2012, Jezebel posted an article, "My Weekend in America's So-Called 'Rape Capital, ' " referring to Missoula, Montana, though both the writer of that article and Krakauer (Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way, 2011, etc.) note that the rate of reported rapes in Missoula was commensurate with the rates in other college towns. Given the fanatic devotion for the Grizzlies, the university's football team, and the fact that its players were accused of both gang and one-on-one rapes, Krakauer finds in Missoula the perfect storm of scandal. (In fact, some locals like to believe that football players don't need to rape anyone because they can have sex with whomever they'd like.) The author homes in on the stories of several victims: one whose assailant was convicted, one whose wasn't, and another whose crime was punished by expulsion from the university-though he was never found legally guilty (one revealing thread of Krakauer's investigations is the appalling ineptitude of university administrators when confronted with accusations of rape among their students). The author focuses on the plight of a brave undergrad who, after considerable trepidation, decided to go public with her accusation against star player Beau Donaldson. Krakauer has done considerable research into acquaintance rape, and his recounting of trials, both legal and university proceedings, is riveting. His focus on quoting from testimony means that it is harder for readers to understand the motivations of someone like Kirsten Pabst, a former prosecutor who became a lawyer for an accused football player; an interview with her could have been useful. A raw and difficult but necessary read. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2015

The subject of campus rape has undergone scrutiny lately with press coverage focusing on sensational cases of false reporting as in the Duke University lacrosse scandal and the discredited Rolling Stone story about events related to the University of Virginia. Yet as noted here, unreported crimes appear to be a more common problem. Applying an impressive array of interviews, legal and newspaper files, and government and scientific papers, veteran author Krakauer (Under the Banner of Heaven; Into the Wild) meticulously details several recent cases in the college town of Missoula, MT. The author proposes to explain why at least 80 percent of such offenses are not reported and to explore their devastating repercussions. The book is organized around the dynamics of each case, from brutal act to offender disposition, in the context of the athlete-centered nature of Missoula and a complex interplay among local law enforcement, university personnel, and the Department of Justice. Krakauer debunks myths about rape and passionately argues for reform in attitudes and the procedures employed in such incidents. Essentially a case study, this book also raises universal issues about a serious social problem. VERDICT An engrossing journalistic account with graphic details that should appeal to true crime enthusiasts and victim advocates but may shock general readers.--Antoinette Brinkman, formerly with Southwest Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2015

Amid the opportunities offered by the newfound independence of college is the chance to make new friends. Like most freedoms, this independence involves risks. For two of the girls in Krakauer's latest, the risks seemed typical of college life: party hard and then pass out. But as these girls lay in a semi-comatose state of inebriation, they were raped. They were raped by football players. This second fact makes everything much harder, from the odds of fighting off a strong attacker to the courage it takes to make an accusation that could affect the performance of the football team. The author makes his way through this highly charged topic with typical equanimity; yes, some girls do make false accusations, and truthfully, a community will protect football players to a degree beyond reason. But the focus continually returns to the lives of the young women. Even when armed with evidence from rape kits and testimony of witnesses, they are often accused of "asking for it" by lying unconscious on a couch, or by not screaming for help. Some young men and women never quite recover from the ordeal of testifying in court and then living with the subsequent VERDICT. Krakauer evenly relates the aftermath of this horrible crime. VERDICT Recommended for male and female high school seniors-to increase their understanding of consensual sex and the consequences of rape.-Diane Colson, Nashville Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.