Losing Matt Shepard

Rating:
Summary: Direct, Honest, and Powerful
Review: Beth Loffreda has created a very clear picture of the events which occurred immediately following the death of Matthew Shepard, as well as the continuing struggle that both gay and straight individuals face when trying to create a community where everyone is accepted and comfortable. What she did not do, for which I am extremely greatful, was to write her book with any blatent prejudice toward either side. (NOTE: It is, however, written from a supportive and gay-positive view point). Her work was fair and honest, and I believe she truly tried to accurately represent the feelings of everyone who was affected by the events of October 1998.

The book does not dwell on the death of Matthew, although there are some heart-wrenching discussions about it. Rather, Loffreda has focused her attention on the fallout of his death. She discusses the trials of the four "kids" involved in Matt's death, including specific legal issues and arguments raised by both sides in the trials. She discusses the feelings of members of the gay community in Laramie and Wyoming, as well as out-of-state visitors during that time. She discusses the continuing struggle over implementation of bias and hate crime legislation, both within Wyoming and at the Federal level. She discusses other issues such as race, economics, etc. which must also be considered in conjunction with the "gay issue." She also touches on the part played by religious organizations, from the antics of Fred Phelps to the support and love shown by local churches. Throughout every discussion, often based on conversations with Laramie residents, she tries to be fair to all and show the fact that there is no hard and fast answer to be found here.

A good friend purchased this book for me as a gift, for which I am truly thankful. He warned me that it might make me angry (as I tend to get worked up about discrimination and bias issues), but that it was an excellent book. I agree 100%, and encourage everyone to take the chance and read it. You will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for everyone. Read, weep, and learn
Review: I have purchased more copies of this book than any other in the past 10 years. Beth Loffreda has done a remarkable amount of research, interviews into the murder of Matthew Shepard. When you read this book, try to remember that you live in the United States in the 21rst Century and not back in Germany in the 1930's. The treatment of gay people in parts of this country is absurd and this book should be a textbook in Sociology classes in campuses around the country. How can someting like this happen today? Loffreda tells the story from many points of view and as mentioned before did a masterful job. I was in tears while reading this book - I became angry, and also learned to love Matthew Shepard - a person I never met. Please read, weep, and learn

Rating:
Summary: Prissy, scolding tone
Review: I was disappointed. Having heard that the writer, an English professor, had approached her project like a reporter--that she had interviewed Laramie townspeople and M.S.'s fellow students and had quoted them extensively--I was hoping that the town and campus would come alive on the page, like they would in the hands of a good novelist. Doesn't happen. All the voices she quotes sound interchangeable (the quotes sound cleaned up), and the characterizations are watery, indistinct. She's no Janet Malcolm. The other weakness is the author's prissy, scolding tone, in which she appears, annoyingly, every few paragraphs, invariably announcing her appearance with "It seemed to me..." constructions, all of which end with her officiously correcting some misconception that has seized (a) the people of Laramie, or (b) the people outside of Laramie. All of which would be tolerable if she had anything genuinely original to say. But she didn't. It's the same tired postmodern, deconstructionist-era, gender/sexuality-is-a-social-construction rap you've heard a million times.

Rating:
Summary: SUPERB REPORTING
Review: If your looking for a book that chronicles Matthews life then this is not the book for you. But if you want a book that gives you an indepth look at what was going on before and after his death then it is the book for you. It goes indepth on the trial and the towns reactions. There are even some interviews with real people from the Gay and Straight communities.

Rating:
Summary: Lives in the aftermath of tragedy
Review: In researching the death of Matt Shepard, one thing becomes abundantly clear. Members of the media were able to spin his death, and Laramie, to suit their needs. To get a clear picture, indeed ANY picture, it must come from those who lived it. Like the Tectonic Theatre Project's play "The Laramie Project", Beth Loffreda's book provides just that picture. Although she did not know Matt, she has open access to many of those who did. And, as a Laramie resident, she is able to relate, first hand, what really went on in the hearts and minds of of a townspeople wrongfully indicted by many as "redneck" and "backwater".

Rating:
Summary: Never Losing Him
Review: It seems both so long ago and so yesterday that a young gay man was ruthlessly tortured and killed on a lonely Wyoming road, torching a national controversy that became interwoven into our national quilt. In her book, "Losing Matt Shepard", Beth Loffreda successfully examines the threads of this event, its effect on Wyoming, Laramie, and the people closely involved.

Loffreda doesn't merely rehash the events, but extends and relates them in a matter of fact way that brings a deeper understanding to the entire horrific event. We see the event through many different groups eyes, through his friends, special groups, Laramie residents, Wyoming residents, national media, and even hate groups. It's through this multi-faceted examination that we are drawn deeper into this tragedy.

And then at this moment, Loffreda brilliantly takes us around the crime scenes with a sheriff so devoted to Matt and solving this crime, he becomes a true hero in this story. The placement of this section is criticial; just when we yearn for this information, she gives it to us, painting us a picture of the last hours Matt spent on this Wyoming plain, and his eventual death. It chilled me reading it, and moved me deeply. You want to run into the pages to save this poor soul who suffered because of who he was.

Read this book. Understand the consequences. Make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

Rating:
Summary: Prissy, scolding tone
Review: The author lost Matthew Shepard; he doesn't appear in the book, and neither does his murder. He is a ghost. Which is a true shame. Most of the book is softly pitched post-modern pyrotechnics. Loffreda avoids the hard questions, and omits crucial information to understanding what happened that cold, cold night. Loffreda dodges the role religion played in Matt's murder. One of Matt's killers was an Eagle Scout and an elder in the Mormon church. Also Loffreda makes a great deal about the fact that the killers attacked two latinos after killing Matt, as if racism is tied to homophobia. We aren't told that the latinos were homophobic thugs themselves, out slashing tires and looking for trouble. This book isn't about Matthew or even his murder, but if you can get past the author's sideways approach to the subject of homophobia it is a worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: Reclaiming Laramie
Review: Those looking for a journalistic treatment of this subject, exposing sensational details and vivid personalities, will be disappointed in this book. It is an even-handed, somewhat reserved reflection on the events that swept the people of Laramie, Wyoming, into the national spotlight when Matt Shepard was murdered in October 1998. While there are several themes in the book, the chief one is the hysteria of the national media, which transformed the story of a young man's beating and death into a horrific hate crime, with all the over-simplification, instant analysis, and easy generalizations of highly competitive news organizations. Understanding the vast complexity of the social context that the murder emerged from and its meaning in terms of the people who make up the fabric of that community have been left for more thoughtful observers, writers and thinkers like the author, who can with greater knowledge, sensitivity, and analytical abilities address the central question, what REALLY happened?

Given the polarizing issue of sexual orientation, it's easy for readers to fault Loffreda for her refusal to reduce the subject to a black-and-white matter of homophobia. She makes an interesting argument about hate crimes, using Matt's murder as a way to show that the notion of a crime motivated purely by hate is an abstraction, and what really motivated this murder was a whole tapestry of motives having to do with social class, intent to rob, upbringing, a macho culture, and a depressed social and economic environment. If you boil it down to anything, what seems to be at the root of the crime is a simple wish to bully, intimidate, and victimize someone perceived as weaker. Where is the hate and where is the bias in all this, she wonders. It's there, yes, but so is much else that can't be addressed by labeling it as a bias crime.

Much of the book is also an attempt to represent the distinctive "lifestyle" of gay men and women living in a rural, thinly populated state, where being "out" is not an option, and there is a generally held belief that homosexuality does not exist there. Involved as she is with the gay community in Laramie, the author is familiar with many gay men and women who appear in the pages of her book, each expressing varying responses to the murder of one of their own. What's instructive is that "gay community" is a misnomer here, where there essentially is none. There is little organization and few resources to make a difference either socially or politically. Instead, national organizations and their celebrity representatives swoop in to capitalize on Matt's murder in the interest of their own agendas, both pro- and anti-gay. Matt gets "lost" in many ways, and this is only one of them.

Loffreda does not set out to win back Matt Shepard, but she does a lot to recover Laramie itself. She reclaims a town in its own terms, not those of the media. While she struggles with residents' resistance to change and the inappropriateness of their responses (emphasizing emotion rather than action), she acknowledges a wide-spread decency, a feeling of remorse, and a genuine wish to overcome complacency. For the gay men and women of Laramie, not a lot changes. There is still fear and anger, to go along with invisibility. But there is also love of this place on the wind-swept prairie, and a belief that for all its drawbacks, this is home.

I recommend this book for its attempt to undo the damage done by the occupying army of the national media. In that respect, it makes an interesting companion to the film "Bowling for Columbine."