burritapal_1's review against another edition
This is a book about intellectually disabled men who worked for Henry's Turkey Service of Texas, eviscerating and shackling turkeys for Louis Rich. While I was sympathetic to the men's flight, being paid very little for a physically exhausting and nauseating job, I was also horrifie at the plight of the poor turkeys, Shackled when they were already terrorized, dipped in an electrified water bath to stun them, having their necks slit and then dunked in boiling water to loosen their pin feathers. Nowhere was there any pity for these poor intelligent animals in the book. I just couldn't read anymore.
jbraithwaite90's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
disasterchick's review against another edition
3.0
My mom had worked in a nursing home/training center for the mentally challenged. This is a subject near and dear to my heart. This book is very disturbing, but from what I am witnesses the change from making "institutions" vanish and more group living situations this is actually occurring more now than then. Maybe not the abuse of labor as told here, but they are not receiving help and training to help reach potential. My mom's facility received a lot less money per patient and provided, dietitians, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and such. They provided training to help get them into a group home. When you have visibility of a situation there is less chance for abuse. This isn't happening now. This is a group of individuals that society tends to forget and abuse.
gone_awry's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
scherer5127's review against another edition
4.0
It's hard to separate the story from the writing. I feel like if you say the book wasn't 5 stars then the story isn't important. I can't believe that this was all happening for so many years with so many clueless people, or people willing to look the other way. At the same time, they author cycled around many times to tell the same thing. We are our brothers keepers, let us never forget.
tastybourbon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.0
astuenkel's review against another edition
4.0
Such a heartbreaking story. One of the men would come in the Cedar Falls Public Library and ask for a map of Texas.
biblioventurer's review against another edition
3.0
While not perfect, a powerful and interesting read. I always wanted more about the men, more about their backstories, more about their life after Henry's. I'd also be interested in more about Kenneth Henry and how his life was impacted by all of the settlements and lawsuits. I'd like to think that he and the Neubauers realized what they did wrong, but somehow, given their constantly unrepentant attitudes, I doubt it. I'm just so thankful that the men are in better living situations now. And can we talk about Gene Berg, living independently and being generally awesome?
pkrez's review against another edition
3.0
I did not come to this story cold. I remember following this story intently as it unfolded in the Des Moines Register (newspaper) in 2009. So why read the book if I already know about it?
10-second version of the story: A corporation basically enslaves and exploits mentally disabled men who cannot understand and escape from the exploitation. They work in a turkey-processing factory for years. Then finally get out after government agencies intervene.
The story is a shocking one. How could people be SOOOO taken advantage of? In this century?!?! In America?!?! In Iowa?!?! And even though I was already aware of some of the horror, I was still moved while reading this book.
Whereas the newspaper accounts give some details about what happened and the conditions, you don't get it all there. And Dan Barry's book covers it all. Much of it, new material to me. I learned a great deal about the history of how our country has dealt with mental disability. I learned much more about the company the effectively enslaved these men. And I learned so much more than I expected about the men themselves. I think one thing that the author wants to impress upon readers is that people living with intellectual disability are very much human, individuals, souls, with feelings, hopes, dreams, and a lot just like you and me. This book does an excellent job humanizing these men.
While the story is tragic, it is epic and will keep your attention. Plenty of heroes and villains. Triumphs and failures... many failures. But it does end on some positive notes and describes a much more just world in 2014 than that of the mid 1970s.
My main criticism with this book (and a big reason the star-rating is so low) is that I found the language far too flowery. I do not care too much about what color someone's car was. I don't care too much about the statue in front of some public building. I don't care too much about the sounds of the food cooking at a McDonald's restaurant. I certainly wouldn't want the book to read like a dry textbook, but I don't care too much for so many excess details that don't seem to directly relate to the issues at hand.
I can definitely understand and appreciate why this book is generally ranked so favorably on Goodreads. It's excellent in taking on a very recent, and tragic disaster story and really bringing it to life for readers.
And while the book doesn't make this point too strongly, I want to strongly say this here: What finally caused things to change in this case was the Des Moines Register newspaper saying, "and this is going to be on the front page of the paper" which could not be ignored. Investigative reporting and strong local journalism is crucial for making the world more fair and just. Sadly, the investigative journalist and editor at the Des Moines Register who were key to this story have since left the paper.
10-second version of the story: A corporation basically enslaves and exploits mentally disabled men who cannot understand and escape from the exploitation. They work in a turkey-processing factory for years. Then finally get out after government agencies intervene.
The story is a shocking one. How could people be SOOOO taken advantage of? In this century?!?! In America?!?! In Iowa?!?! And even though I was already aware of some of the horror, I was still moved while reading this book.
Whereas the newspaper accounts give some details about what happened and the conditions, you don't get it all there. And Dan Barry's book covers it all. Much of it, new material to me. I learned a great deal about the history of how our country has dealt with mental disability. I learned much more about the company the effectively enslaved these men. And I learned so much more than I expected about the men themselves. I think one thing that the author wants to impress upon readers is that people living with intellectual disability are very much human, individuals, souls, with feelings, hopes, dreams, and a lot just like you and me. This book does an excellent job humanizing these men.
While the story is tragic, it is epic and will keep your attention. Plenty of heroes and villains. Triumphs and failures... many failures. But it does end on some positive notes and describes a much more just world in 2014 than that of the mid 1970s.
My main criticism with this book (and a big reason the star-rating is so low) is that I found the language far too flowery. I do not care too much about what color someone's car was. I don't care too much about the statue in front of some public building. I don't care too much about the sounds of the food cooking at a McDonald's restaurant. I certainly wouldn't want the book to read like a dry textbook, but I don't care too much for so many excess details that don't seem to directly relate to the issues at hand.
I can definitely understand and appreciate why this book is generally ranked so favorably on Goodreads. It's excellent in taking on a very recent, and tragic disaster story and really bringing it to life for readers.
And while the book doesn't make this point too strongly, I want to strongly say this here: What finally caused things to change in this case was the Des Moines Register newspaper saying, "and this is going to be on the front page of the paper" which could not be ignored. Investigative reporting and strong local journalism is crucial for making the world more fair and just. Sadly, the investigative journalist and editor at the Des Moines Register who were key to this story have since left the paper.