Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Politics & government
Weblink
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.co …

I CAN'T BREATHE

Matt Taibbi

A Killing on Bay Street

This is the stroy of an incident that led to public unrest, that shook the nation following the police killing of Eric Garner in 2014.

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner died in Staten Island, New York City, after a police officer put him in what has been described as a "chokehold" during an arrest for selling "loosies," or single cigarettes. The incident, which was captured on video and seen by millions, along with his final plea of “I can't breathe,” has sparked a series of demonstrations that transformed into the "Black Lives Matter" movement which has revolutionized national politics. In the weeks following Garner's death, two New York City police officers were killed by a young black man, in what he claimed was revenge for Garner's death. Those killings in turn led to police protests, clashes with New York's local government, and an eventual work slow-down.

Matt Taibbi tells the story of a country divided by racial and class divides through the lens of crime, the grand jury, media, and the increase in protests that has since become a national norm. I first read early pages last Fall and their immediacy and power has stayed with me since. I CAN’T BREATHE is a riveting work of literary journalism; Taibbi’s reporting breaks new ground and offers new information—about both Garner and the police. He ultimately illuminates the strange role we've given our police forces, and the conflicts that ensue. The result is a brilliant glimpse into the paradoxical issues facing the so-called “Land of the Free.”

Bookforum declares, “Matt Taibbi is, by some margin, the best polemical journalist in America.” No one breaks news, reframes and distills issues, and galvanizes readers like Matt does—he’s our national muck-raking moral conscience. In his bestselling 2014 book, THE DIVIDE, Taibbi took on the issue of wealth inequality in America and its far-reaching consequences for our justice system. (And of course, earlier this year we published a collection of his writing from the US Presidential Election in INSANE CLOWN PRESIDENT.)

Matt Taibbi’s literary journalism is perfect for foreign audiences attempting to grasp the complexities of American social, economic, and political controversy.

Available products
Book Published 2017-10-24 by Spiegel & Grau
Book Published 2017-10-24 by Spiegel & Grau

Comments

But what Matt Taibbi does most beautifully, most necessarily, is he gives Eric Garner that thing the police who choked him to death that day -- and much of the media as well -- denied this man: His humanity. Through impeccable reporting, Taibbi reveals to us, finally, Eric Garner the man, the father, the lover, the friend.

[A] brilliant work of narrative nonfiction... Taibbi is unsparing is his excoriation of the system, police, and courts that led to the fatal choke hold and worked to blur the abuse afterward... This is a necessary and riveting work.

UK rights: WH Allen

[A] searing exposé... After deeply exploring Garner's life from a variety of perspectives, Taibbi offers detailed reporting about the out-of-control Staten Island police officers present at the death scene... [and] the futile efforts of the Garner family to achieve posthumous justice... What emerges from the author's superb reporting and vivid writing is a tragically revealing look at a broken criminal justice system geared to serve white citizens while often overlooking or ignoring the rights of others.

A complex and textured examination of the complicated personalities, flawed legal system, and politics revolving around the police killing of 43-year-old Eric Garner, whose final words became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.

I Can't Breathe was included in Boston Globe's "Must Read Books for the Fall"

Matt Taibbi's I Can't Breathe marries the best instincts of explanatory narrative journalism with uncompromising moral clarity. The result is a riveting walk through decades of policing policy and big city politics that culminated, seemingly inevitably, in Eric Garner's killing by the New York Police Department. While he may have set out to document a fatal injustice, the tale Taibbi tells is not one of a death, but one of a life. In capturing the fullness of Garner's 'imperfect humanity,' I Can't Breathe adds a vital account of police violence and a vivid exploration of its lingering costs. Taibbi, through thorough reporting and captivating writing, captures the totality of an American tragedy.

Richly reported and evocative. Although Taibbi is not shy about his point of view, he keeps the narrative nuanced and realistic. He is unafraid of the less charitable aspects of Garner, and he's diligent and agnostic when it comes to detailing his world. Taibbi is the rare partisan who understands that, even as he makes his case, he need not pretend that the world is a simple place, and that the best way to grapple with its complexities is to let facts speak for themselves. The result here is a vivid folk history that should prove useful to anyone who seeks to understand the world Eric Garner inhabited, not just progressives.