Shot in the Heart

Name: Shot in the Heart
Brand: Ingram Book Company
SKU: 9780385478007
Price: 39.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER

By Mikal Gilmore

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4.17

( 3,916 ratings, 382 reviews)

Summary

Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore is a memoir that explores the dark and troubled history of the author's family, particularly focusing on his brother Gary Gilmore, who was executed for murder. Through personal reflections and family stories, Mikal examines the complexities of love, violence, and redemption, all while seeking to understand his family's legacy within the broader context of American life. This powerful narrative delves into themes of crime, punishment, and familial bonds.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$39⁹⁹

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Shot in the Heart

$39⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're intrigued by a deeply personal exploration of family dynamics, true crime, and the search for understanding in the midst of tragedy. The author's gripping narrative delves into the complexities of familial relationships, offering a poignant reflection on love, loss, and redemption.

Shot in the Heart

The brother of Gary Gilmore, the infamous murderer immortalized in Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song, tells the stunning story of their wildly dysfunctional family--a family destroyed by a multigenerational history of child abuse, alcoholism, crime, adultery, and murder. "Impossible to put down".--John Schulian, L.A. Times. Photos.

Description

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • A murder tale "from inside the house where murder is born." Haunting, harrowing, and profoundly affecting, Shot in the Heart exposes and explores a dark vein of American life that most of us would rather ignore. It is a book that will leave no reader unchanged.

Gary Gilmore, the infamous murderer immortalised by Norman Mailer in The Executioner's Song, campaigned for his own death and was executed by firing squad in 1977. Writer Mikal Gilmore is his younger brother. In Shot in the Heart, he tells the stunning story of their wildly dysfunctional family: their mother, a black sheep daughter of unforgiving Mormon farmers; their father, a drunk, thief, and con man. It was a family destroyed by a multigenerational history of child abuse, alcoholism, crime, adultery, and murder.

Mikal, burdened with the guilt of being his father's favourite and the shame of being Gary's brother, gracefully and painfully relates his story "from inside the house where murder is born... a house that, in some ways, [he has] never been able to leave." Shot in the Heart is the history of an American family inextricably tied up with violence, and the story of how the children of this family committed murder and murdered themselves in payment for a long lineage of ruin.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Mikal Gilmore's Shot in the Heart has been lauded for its beautiful prose and emotional depth, earning the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Reviewers describe it as a blend of haunting narratives akin to literary classics and compelling folk ballads, with its riveting storytelling noted for courage and emotional impact.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780385478007

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 August 1995

Country: United States

Imprint: Anchor Books

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 132.0mm

Height: 203.0mm

Weight: 352g

Pages: 416

Collections

Biography & Memoir Education & Reference Featured Mikal Gilmore New to Book Hero Non-Fiction True Crime

About the Author

MIKAL GILMORE is an American writer and music journalist. Born in Portland, Oregon to Frank and Bessie Gilmore, he is the younger brother of famed murderer Gary Gilmore who was the first person executed by firing squad after the death penalty was reinstated in 1977. Mikal was the music editor for the L.A. Weekly and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, and for twenty years has worked on the staff of Rolling Stone, where he has profiled many national figures. He lives and works in Los Angeles, California.