Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"We have harnessed the power to annihilate life on earth. Yet we still can't seem to extinguish, quickly, painlessly, and reliability, a single human life.
Gruesome Spectacles tells us why. With his bright, clear, and extra-ordinary prose, Austin Sarat raises many disturbing and profound questions—not only about botched executions—but about State authorized killings made on behalf of the American people. A gripping and provocative read." -- Richard Moran * Mount Holyoke College *
"Sarat's chronicle of how executions were bungled, mishandled, or failed is crucial to the evolution of the methods, and thus to the penalty itself . . . Sarat's comprehensive and even exhaustive effort provides a reference that all involved in criminal justice, and especially capital punishment, must take into account." -- Jon M. Sands and Dale A. Baich *
Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science and Technology *
"Austin Sarat's spellbinding book has captured the spirit of his agile mind.
Gruesome Spectacles is provocatively written and sure to keep readers keenly interested in the captivating stories of many death row prisoners. This book will hook you from the first chapter and continue to fascinate you throughout its journey. A must-read." -- Charles Ogletree * author of
All Deliberate Speed and
The Presumption of Guilt *
"Sarat is mostly sucessful in navigating these dangerous waters of describing the gruesomeness of botched executions without making them just a spectacle or systematic failure of people or equipment. His success is a result of balancing accounts from a variety of sources, situating his work in the social sciences and legal studies." -- David Fazzino * Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania *
"America has no more incisive scholar of capital punishment than Austin Sarat, who always has something fresh to say.
Gruesome Spectacles offers readers new and provocative insights." -- Scott Turow * author of
Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty *
"Absolutely eloquently written." -- Ray Paternoster *
The Historian *
