amyrhoda's review
3.0
The event of August 31 2009 that 28 Seconds centres on was an event I was very much aware of at the time, both personally and politically. Michael Bryant had been my provincial representative in the riding of St Paul's, and a friend of mine worked for him when he was Attorney General. So it was shocking to hear that he had been involved in a bike/car crash in which the cyclist had died.
The personal connection was the only thing that prevented me from jumping to the same conclusion that most of Toronto jumped to: that this was a rich, entitled white guy in an expensive convertible running over a cyclist out of carelessness or anger.
The truth is much more complex and layered and interesting. Bryant unfolds it here with humility and grace, explaining and exploring the nuances, coincidences, and consequences.
The most interesting takeaway for me was Bryant's perspective of the criminal justice system from the inside, a perspective most former Attorney Generals never get. This book, written in 2012, contributes a different kind of fuel to the fire under the movement to defund the police. Bryant is palpably frustrated with the police's focus on conviction over evidence, and he writes about his now-ex-wife's lasting fear and contempt of police. And these are well-connected, affluent white people.
This is the second memoir I've read by someone, not in my personal circles but just one or two connections away. I don't know if there's any more to say about that other than I'm lucky to be part of a world where people I know write memoirs and get them published. I'm so nosy and curious about people that a book-length memoir is really the only thing that will satisfy me.
The personal connection was the only thing that prevented me from jumping to the same conclusion that most of Toronto jumped to: that this was a rich, entitled white guy in an expensive convertible running over a cyclist out of carelessness or anger.
The truth is much more complex and layered and interesting. Bryant unfolds it here with humility and grace, explaining and exploring the nuances, coincidences, and consequences.
The most interesting takeaway for me was Bryant's perspective of the criminal justice system from the inside, a perspective most former Attorney Generals never get. This book, written in 2012, contributes a different kind of fuel to the fire under the movement to defund the police. Bryant is palpably frustrated with the police's focus on conviction over evidence, and he writes about his now-ex-wife's lasting fear and contempt of police. And these are well-connected, affluent white people.
This is the second memoir I've read by someone, not in my personal circles but just one or two connections away. I don't know if there's any more to say about that other than I'm lucky to be part of a world where people I know write memoirs and get them published. I'm so nosy and curious about people that a book-length memoir is really the only thing that will satisfy me.
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