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| While They Slept: An Inquiry into the Murder of a Family | 
 enlarge | Author: Kathryn Harrison
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 105892
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 1400065429
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.15230979527
EAN: 9781400065424
ASIN: 1400065429
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Early on an April morning, eighteen-year-old Billy Frank Gilley, Jr., killed his sleeping parents. Surprised in the act by his younger sister, Becky, he turned on her as well. Billy then climbed the stairs to the bedroom of his other sister, Jody, and said, “We’re free.”
But is one ever free after an unredeemable act of violence? The Gilley family murders ended a lifetime of physical and mental abuse suffered by Billy and Jody at the hands of their parents. And it required each of the two survivors–one a convicted murderer, the other suddenly an orphan–to create a new identity, a new life.
In this mesmerizing book, bestselling writer Kathryn Harrison brilliantly uncovers the true story behind a shocking and unforgettable crime as she explores the impact of escalating violence and emotional abuse visited on the children of a deeply troubled family. With an artistry that recalls Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song, and her own The Kiss, Harrison reveals the antecedents of the murders–of a crime of such violence that it had the power to sever past from present–and the consequences for Billy and for Jody. Weaving in meditations on her own experience of parental abuse, Harrison searches out answers to the question of how survivors of violent trauma shape a future when their lives have been divided into Before and After.
Based on interviews with Billy and Jody as well as with friends, police, and social workers involved in the case, While They Slept is Kathryn Harrison’s unflinching inquiry into the dark heart of violence in an American family, and a personal quest to understand how young people go on after tragedy–to examine the extent as well as the limits of psychic resilience. The New York Times called Kathryn Harrison’s The Kiss “a powerful piece of writing, a testament to evil and hope.” The same could be said about While They Slept.
PRAISE FOR WHILE THEY SLEPT
“Harrison does a magnificent job of sorting through the heartbreak of a family tragedy. By adding insights into her own life, she brings us a little closer to understanding the resilience of the human spirit and the irrevocable damage and unforeseen consequences of child and sexual abuse.”
–USA Today
“The result of Harrison's masterful embellishment is a fascinating and comprehensive examination of the before and after of a brutal triple murder, of the cyclical nature of violence and of the tragic ineffectiveness of our social support systems…While They Slept does not provide the easy answers we hope to discover in ‘just the facts,’ but it offers instead the richer and more enduring illumination of ‘the story.’”
–L.A. Times
“Her telling brings moral clarity to the dark fate of a family: the daylight gaze of narrative itself as a form of empathy.”
–New York Times Book Review, cover review
“A powerful account…This excellent book will be devoured by educators who try to come to grips with the lasting effects of the traumas of childhood.”
–Deseret Morning News
“Harrison offers careful research and obvious concern… While They Slept’s real horror is in how many potential helpers were aware of the abuse and were unable to help. This is a heartbreaking read.”
–Rocky Mountain News
“Kathryn Harrison pulls the reader through the story of the 1984 triple murder in Medford–our own backyard–with such speed and excitement it feels like you’re watching an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent…Harrison perfectly paces the revelations of new characters, who add critical information and perspective to the Gilley murder.”
–Willamette Weekly
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 An author and a murder... June 14, 2008
25 out of 26 found this review helpful
I've read a few of Harrison's books over the years (though not The Kiss, which is about an incestuous relationship with her father)and think she's a fine writer. As she amply shows in her latest non-fiction about the murder of a family by the 19 year old son, who spares one sister, while killing his second sister and his abusive parents.
The book is about how both the brother (locked up in an Oregon prison for life) and his sister, who made a productive life for herself, including a degree from Georgetown College, have lived in the years since the murder.
The ONLY reason I'm giving this book four and not five stars is the way Harrison inserts her own "story" into that of the Gilley siblings. Now, I know WHY she did it, but I would have rather read a straight forward account of the crime and aftermath, rather than have to deal with Harrison's intrusion into the story.
I know that Norman Mailer inserted himself as writer into "Executioner's Song" about Gary Gilmore and, of course, Truman Capote did the same in "In Cold Blood". Maybe Kathryn Harrison's writing isn't quite as good as Mailer or Capote's or maybe the crime she wrote about just isn't as compelling as the ones written about by Mailer and Capote.
In any case, the book is well worth reading. Most readers probably won't be as put off by Harrison's story told in tandem with the Gilleys'.
 Is The Topic Given True Justice? July 4, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Kathryn Harrison is an immensely gifted writer. I read one of her earlier novels, Exposure, many years ago, and was enthralled with her perceptions, intuition, and tone. As most of her fans know, she was also the victim of an incestuous relationship with her own father, which she documents in her non-fiction work, The Kiss.
And herein lies the problem with her latest non-fiction work, focusing on the April morning when young Billy Gilley, Jr., murdered his sleeping parents and younger sister, allowing only his cherished sister, Jody, to survive. Jody somehow psychically survives this violent night, and, in fact, becomes Chief of Staff for President Clinton's National Campaign Against Youth Violence, among other things.
Harrison conducts many face-to-face interviews with Jody and Billy, who are estranged. It doesn't take long, though, for the reader to realize that this book is less about their tragedy than Harrison's own. She writes, "For a long time I understand my pursuit of the Gilleys' tragedy as driven my identification with the two older of the family's children: with Jody, in whom I saw an outline of my better self, intelligent and capable...then with Billy, whom I allowed to represent the wounded and murderously angry child that I was..."
Based on her transference to the Gilley tragedy, Harrison goes into deep analysis of Jody and Billy. At times, I almost felt as if I were reading a psychiatrist's transcript. One example: "It seems likely to me that Billy's memory is inspired by his wish for a grandmother who was powerful enough to save him -- a woman with a weapon she was willing to use..." Examples like this abound. Since the author has had massive therapy but is not, in fact, a trained psychiatrist, these passages sometimes seem arrogant.
Moreover, Harrison seems unaware, at times, of how her own tragedy colors her perception of the Gilley tragedy. For example, her distaste of Thad -- who became a self-appointed guardian to Jody -- is palpable. My own read is that he made a major difference in Jody's life, but he is a father figure, which, I believe, is threatening to the author. (And yes, I'm aware I'm doing precisely what I'm accusing Harrison of doing!) There are other examples of this as well.
Ultimately, the reader finds out more about Kathryn Harrison than Jody and Billy Gilley. The escalating violence, the suspense, the redemption -- all are dulled and the characteristic nuances of this gifted writer don't show through. While I recognize the courage it took for her to accept and write this book, I believe it hits too close to home for her to give true justice.
 When Nonfiction Goes Wrong June 27, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
This book was disappointing: it doesn't measure up to Harrison's other writing and it falls far short of the accomplishment of another nonfiction work that it has been compared to: In Cold Blood. It's difficult to understand why this book merited front-page coverage in The New York Times Book Review. The writing, like Harrison's description of Jody's affect, seems flat. There are carelessly constructed sentences, and the analogies Harrison focuses on for Jody's experiences--Flowers in the Attic, Batman--are simplistic and banal. The organization seems weak, and the content thin and repetitive. The extended (and again repetitive) references to her own experiences seem unnecessary. And the conclusion of the book seems wrong-headed and inappropriate: " . . . the story of the Gilleys is less a tragedy than a blood-soaked fairy tale." Even the title seems weak. I had the sensation while reading this that Harrison herself had grown tired of this project long before she finished it.
A book about Kathryn Harrison and Kathryn Harrison's feelings. Yawn. July 4, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
The author had a unique and rare opportunity to explore and report the murder of a family and the aftermath of its effects on the remaining members of the family as well as the murderer. Instead, she barely went into any depth about what led to this heinous event. She interjects with her own familial tragedy and compares herself with Jody and Billy and their tragedy. I can't help but be annoyed and find it slightly narcissistic and presumptuous of her to assume that we are interested in her life and how it relates to The Gilleys. I bought the book because the NY Times gave it a stellar review however, that particular review was misleading. The author is clearly not an investigative reporter. Objectivity and in depth reporting are what make true crime fascinating to read and this book lacks both components ("Just the facts, m'am"). While I sympathize with the author's own familial misfortune, I bought the book to read about The Gilleys not Kathryn Harrison. The author would benefit from reading Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" or Vincent Bugliosi's "Helter Skelter". All in all, this book was a waste of time to read.
 Powerful, moving, and deeply disturbing July 2, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is an unforgettable book, an account of teen-aged Billy Gilley's murder of his parents and eleven-year-old sister in Medford, Oregon, in 1986. Jody Gilley, sixteen at the time of the massacre, survived. Much of the book is her story. Other reviewers have criticized Harrison for "inserting" or "interjecting" her own story. I can understand those criticisms but I do not agree with them. In the first few pages of the book, Harrison takes the bold and unusual step of explaining her interest in the Gilley murders, and she lets us know who she, the author, is. She is a survivor of incest, though that is far too simple a label for a complex human being. There is no attempt at cold objectivity in this book, because such a thing is not possible. Each of us has his or her point of view, based on a highly individual world-view and self-image. To this extent, all descriptive writing, fiction or nonfiction, contains an element of autobiography. Harrison acknowledges this, and the result is a powerful, moving, and deeply disturbing book. There are no simple answers here. The brutally abusive parents, bludgeoned to death by their eighteen-year-old son with a baseball bat, are presented as human being, however repulsive they may be. Jody, now a successful business woman in Washington, D.C., with a family of her own, is presented as a complex and impressive woman. Billy, too, has his own story. Harrison interviewed him several times in the Oregon state prison, where he has been sentenced to three consecutive life terms, one for each murder. The book does not answer all questions, and that is a strength, not a weakness. I have many troubling questions about Becky, the innocent eleven-year-old beaten to death by her older brother because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I do not recommend this book for everyone. Readers who expect a sensational and gory piece of bedtime reading will be disappointed. While They Slept demands careful, open reading, with all preconceptions set aside, to the extent that such a thing is possible. It will be rewarding, if troubling, to the reader who approaches the book in the spirit in which Harrison offers it.
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