Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra (1996-03-02)

I very seldom write reviews for the Kindle books I read. However, I had to make an exception for "Sleepers"! This was absolutely the best book I have read in a long time. Although this true story was shocking and touching, the author also made me laugh as he recounted his experiences in his Catholic school and the interaction with his friends. My heart goes out to all who had to endure such atrocities while incarcerated. I wish this would be made in to a movie.

I agree with M. Cormier's review and believe this is partly true. It was an interesting book, well written but does not seem to be entirely true. It could be, but after James Frey's "memoir" all the non-fiction books I read are suspect. Non-fiction will never be the same.

I liked 'Sleepers,' for the most part.

The book is easy to read, with a simple, straightforward narrative that doesn't get in the way of things. In addition to poignant descriptions and an engaging format, some good, witty humor is threaded through the text, as to lend a bit of flare. Though, there is one thing I didn't like about the writing: some parts are so dramatized, with obvious "liberties" taken (or so I read it, at least), that I had a hard time reading it as nonfiction. Consequently, rather than taking 'Sleepers' as a purely factual account, I found myself regarding it more as a subjective, "editorialized" version of the events in question (perhaps reflecting the author's own personal perceptions, to degrees unknown). This proved to be not too big a problem, but, with my desiring a strictly objective recounting of things when reading nonfiction, I did draw less from the book than I would have otherwise. (Of course, if you're looking for something more along the lines of entertainment, such a writing style would be a plus, given its improved readability and sensational element.)

However, its subjectivity notwithstanding, 'Sleepers' still manages to be a satisfying and valuable read, and on multiple levels. The book is, first, a gripping, well-rounded illustration of mid-century urban America, from its biographical profile of the life and times of a man growing up in this challenging environment, to mapping the complicated social- and political ecology that governed West Side NYC at the time, to the even rockier depths of survival in a juvenile facility. Furthermore, we are allowed a rare glimpse into the raw, elusive underbelly that lay beneath these existential territories, touching on the subtle, hidden-in-plain-sight savagery that so often inhabits the skin of the "civilized world." There is much to be learned from this aspect of the book alone, from a human perspective as much as anthropological one.

Additionally, 'Sleepers' presents an equally rich psychological study. Again, much is touched upon: the mechanics of our social charades, from dominance and power struggles to manipulation and the leveraging of sex for control; the complicated motives of social loyalties, geographical bias, and other perplexing behavior; the traumatized mentality, and how it acts as an originator of need; the fallacy of one-sided thinking, and the self-contradiction that often results. Along the way, we are forced to confront the deep, fundamental flaws which undermine our present-day justice system; namely, that agenda, opportunism, and other psychological prejudices can tip Justice's scales, as to subvert even the most legitimate-seeming trial.

But, if nothing else, 'Sleepers' is highly valuable as an object lesson: in the consequences of disregarding the Golden Rule of "Do Unto Others." Here, we are shown the many problems that can arise from acting on self-interest and blind loyalty rather than principle, unconditional equality, and compassion (or, at least, that's how the book came off to me).

All in all, 'Sleepers' has much to offer, from education to insight to heartfelt storytelling (as well as some sobering forays into the grittier regions of the soul). Upon finishing it, I felt enriched, knowing the world and my fellow man a little better (and, myself).

My sincere thanks goes out to this book's author, subjects, and publisher. I am grateful for, and have benefited from, your work and service.

I Wholeheartedly believe Lorenzo Carcaterra's story. No way did he made this up. The fact that He did not attend the movie's premiere and was forced to go and came in fifteen minutes before the movie ended speaks volumes to the torture, rape and abuse he endured at the hands of those Disgusting Guards. The writing in the book is raw and beautiful which adds to the authenticity of his story. Even if part of it was made up or embellished who cares! This is Something that people need to know. The system doesn't care about these wayward children, it doesn't protect the minors, it protects the ones doing the wrong and the injustices. This book is Heartbreaking and it is NOT for the faint of heart.

Easily 5 Stars!

Wow… this is definitely a book I’ll never forget. The things these boys experienced will make you cringe, make you angry, want to cry… While many question if the trial really occurred or not, I don’t care to question it. If it didn’t happen, just maybe the author wishes this is how things could’ve turned out. Maybe writing this was his therapy. Or maybe it actually happened. The point is, I don’t believe anyone would make up such childhood traumas/tragedies, and I do believe if someone had experienced anything as horrific as this, they’d want to see their attackers punished. True or not, it made for a one-of-a-kind reading experience, touching on just about every emotion.

This was a very dark read. It was a story of friendship, brutality/tragedy, and revenge. It was very well-written. I could’ve read this in one sitting, but certain parts made me so sad or angry that I needed to put it down.

Read this, and then watch the movie. Both were equally dark, phenomenal, and unforgettable.

It’s hard to believe what kind of evil exists in this world….

A fascinating and disturbing account of four teenaged boys growing up in the Hells Kitchen district of New York City in the '50s. On a hot summer day they get in trouble when their petty crime goes horribly wrong. They end up in a state reform school where unspeakable things are perpetrated by the staff, ripping away their innocence and trust in mankind.

Ten years later they are adults, living lives shaped behind the walls of the Wilkenson School for Boys, when two of them happen upon Sean Nokes, the worst of their tormentors. Their chance meeting becomes Sean's worst nightmare and rocket-launches one of the most compelling courtroom dramas in American literature.

Legal technicians have denounced the courtroom proceedings as improbable. The state of New York denies that any such trial ever took place. Still, it's a believable story and the author swears is true, a memoir that led to reforms in the New York juvenile justice system. What more can an author ask? Or a reader.

I don't care how much of the story is fabricated; there's plenty here that's real, especially Lorenzo's often brilliantly rendered street dialogue. The plot never falters. I don't like some of the characters, but I respect who they were and who they became and why. Some of them are unforgettable: Fat Mancho, Father Bobby, King Benny, Sean Nokes, Marlboro, Carol, Shakes, among others. The definition of great writing is characters you don't forget.

I didn't go to reform school but I didn spend the last nine years of my childhood in a Texas orphanage. Many of the scenes and feelings expressed in this story ring true to my experiences there. It's the overall feel of the story that's convincing, captivating--leading to a relentless hunger for justice (herein termed "revenge").

When you've been tortured as a child, the adult consequences are unavoidable and permanent, the symptoms of PTSD, mistrust, attention deficit, hypervigilance, the inability to attach and express love. These are emotionally crippling consequences. The author demonstrates an uncommon compassion and understanding of these timeless truths, something that cannot be manufactured.

If you get nothing else from this story, get that juvenile detention centers can create monsters or they can create angels. When you're tempted to cut their budget, get out the scales and weigth the cost of fifty years of crime.

I love this book. Carcaterra became one of my favorite authors since I read this book. And this is one of the rare cases where the film is as good as the book.

Hell's Kitchen is the setting, and Carcaterra depicts the real Hell's Kitchen -- (of which there is only traces left in the newly gentrified "Clinton") - The characters are a band of boys that grow up together and what happens to them.

I read this as a memoir. It's brutal, raw, true.

Read it.

forever,
Annie

Annie Lanzillotto
author of "L is for Lion: an italian bronx butch freedom memoir" SUNY Press
and "Schistsong" BORDIGHERA Press

www.annielanzillotto.com

L Is for Lion: An Italian Bronx Butch Freedom Memoir (SUNY series in Italian/American Culture)
Schistsong (Via Folios)
Blue Pill
Carry My Coffee (Live)
Eleven Recitations

Some people might say that this book goes too deep for a mere teenager to understand, but I would say the opposite, I think that many teenagers around the world can possibly relate to this, and that's what is so mystifying about this book, that this same thing may have happened to THEM. It's sad to think of it that way. After I put the book down, I sat and thought, with my tear stained eyes, about what I had just read. It was a little hard to believe in the beginning, could people's lives really be this hard? Then you realize, it's very possible. The lives of Shakes, John, Michael, and Tommy touched me. I liked how the author described the troubled life of each person and how he didn't hold back, he told the story with out censoring what was true. The descriptions, especially when they are in the "Home for Boys" haunted me, and I kept remembering the part when John is in Shakes' room, his tortured soul ready to give up. He had no other way out, and it's a shame he had to turn out the way he did. I think the movie did well telling the stories of these four boys, and the actors did a great job, but the book took me deeper, it described more about the life of a teenager in Hell's Kitchen, and the misery of innocent souls in a correction center they shouldn't have been sent to. I'm glad there is at least one book that can touch me in the way this it did. I think people should read this book because it will inform people of what really happens outside of their sheltered lives. (some of them) Lorenzo Caraterra did a wonderful job writing this book and thank you for doing just that. -K.F.

sleepers was a griupping, fascination account of the author and his three best friends growing up in Manhattan's tough Hell's Kitchen neighboorhood. It is peopled with unforgettable charachters. The entire book was compelling. i founbd myself reading fifty pages past where I intended to stop. The first part was reminiscent of the Dead End kids engaged in their daily pusuits. I was totally absorbed in the daily lives of Shakes, Tommy< John and Micheal. The characters were very well described, as were their shenanigans. The neighborhood people were also very colorful and had very distinctive personalities. When the boys stole the hot dog cart and could not prevent it from tumbling down the subway stairs and seriously injuring a man, I knew that began their descent into hell. But I had no idea of how hellish it was. The incidents in the Wilkinson home for boys were harrowing and gut wrenching events that transformed two of the four not very evil boys into ruthless killers who later carried out their revenged on Nokes the leading guard who abused them. The book had tremendous passion, power anbd a feeling that is nearly impossible ke to put into words. Wheter the book is true or not (I think it is well crafted fiction) it makes for one of the most outstanding books one can read. I absouloutley loved this book! It is deserving of classic status.

'Sleepers' is simply a terrific read. Allegedly a true story, although all the names have been changed, it is a story of street youths of Hell's Kitchen of the 1960s who find themselves brutalized in a youth detention facility and then forever are saturated with feelings of shame, hate and the need to get revenge. The author does a masterful job in laying out the background on these boys, with the author being one of them, and reporting on all the subtle changes in their lives. Ultimately the issue of revenge comes to the forefront, which makes for enthralling reading. Alas, no one really wins in 'Sleepers'. It is a very tragic story.

Now as for the discussion on whether the author took liberty in embellishing the story, I am not really sure if this is important. I read 'Sleepers' as if it were a novel. The story is certainly plausible (and extraordinary), and so much if not all of it may be true. But since only the author knows for sure I can't see the point on speculating.

Bottom line: an incredible read. Strongly recommended.

Seriously, the movie WAS great with an all star cast, but you will never truly understand the richness of the characters unless you read the book first. Let the movie be a treat after you've read the book. The setting: Hell's Kitchen in the 1960's. Boys will be boys and when Lorenzo "Shakes" and his friends goof around, pranks are usually the entertainment of choice. On the last of these "occasions" Lorenzo and his three friends decide to steal a hot dog from a street vendor, thinking they can outrun him. Things didn't go as planned. The boys push the vending cart around and unintentionally let it fall down some stairs at a subway entrance. The cart falls and kills a man on it's way down. This is where the book begins a sort of "Part 2".... all summer frolicking ceases and the boys are tried and convicted. Instead of jail they have a much worse fate ahead of them. They find themselves within the hard, gloomy shell of the "Wilkinson Home for Boys". The boys' anxiety of the place soon turns to absolute terror. They are not really bothered by the other kids , but buy the prison guards. They beat, torture, and regularly rape Lorenzo and his friends. Lorenzo remains sane by continuously fantisizing of revenge, inspired by his favorite book, The Count of Monte Cristo. He mentally prepares for the day they are released. Release does come...the story is not ALL so depressing, because the boys DO get revenge. They leave the school and eventually head their separate ways, never really discussing what happened to them. Not until in their late twenties do they meet again in Hell's Kitchen. Two of the boys have become "thugs", one of them became a lawyer, and Lorenzo a journalist. Together again, they decide to avenge themselves in court via strategic law techniques thought through buy their childhood friend who became a lawyer. I won't give away more details from here on because what happens next is the most powerful essence of this book. Lorenzo..AKA.."Lorenzo Carcaterra" IS the author of this book. Yep that's right it is a true story. The Count of Monte Cristo would be proud.

Sleepers is a wonderful book that tells the story of a small group of friends whose lives are changed forever by what they intended to be a childhood prank. The boys start out as typical boys roaming the streets of Hell's Kitchen and getting into as much mischief as they possible can. However, one of the boys' pranks finally goes wrong and lands the boys in a Boys home for a years sentence. While the boys are imprisoned they are forced to endure horrible abuses by the guards which are incredibly hard to read. The boys' lives are, all in different ways, forever changed by this absolutely terrible occurences. The book then skips years forward to adulthood for these pranksters. The once inseparable boys have grown apart. One has become a lawyer, one a reporter, and two hitmen...and they all want the gaurds who still haunt them to pay for what they've done. The tale that follows is a riveting plan to claim back their lives from the men who stole their innocence.

The author of the book maintains that this is a memoir of his own youth. This claim is quite controversial. It seems pretty unbelievable to me that all of this could have happened and the author refuses to provide the evidence that would prove his claim...which is understandable considering that if it is true he and his friends would be in a lot more trouble than they ever got into as children. However, true or not, it is definately a great story and worth reading at least once.

I found this book very engrossing. It was fascinating and hard to put down.
The story is purported to be an auto-biographical account. The author was one of 4 best friends growing up in Hell's Kitchen. The 4 boys engage in a petty theft and prank, which goes horribly wrong, seriously injuring someone. The 4 boys are sentenced to time in a juvenile facility for boys where they are abused psychologically, physically, & sexually by 4 of the guards. Years later 2 of the now grown men have a chance encounter with one of their tormentors and kill him. The rest of the story is about how all four men get their revenge on the other 3 guards.
I had no difficulty believing the scenes in Hell's Kitchen or in the juvenile facility, but I wondered whether the revenge plan was wishful thinking rather than reality. In any event, the book is very good and is worth reading.
I agree that the boys were deserving of punishment for their crime, but no one ever deserves the abuse they received in the juvenile facility. I agree that this abuse was very influential in 2 of the boys becoming criminals as adults. ....

This is the autobiography behind the movie »Sleepers« - and as cruel the movie is, as cruel is this novel. And more.
The reader gets to know much more about the background of the four New York-guys, and there are more shocking episodes than in the movie.
The guys are in fact quite normal boys but still they ARE from one of New York's less good quarters. Therefore, their pranks sometims cross the limits, and one day it turns out so unlucky that they are sentenced to go to a prisonlike institution.
The sadistic and directly evil guards on the institution turn the ives of the inmates to Hell through psychic, phisical and even sexual abuse.
Years later, two of the four friends have turned into criminals. One day, they bump into one of the guards, and they shoot him. The true revenge from the four friends however, only really begins as the following trial begins...
This book is not for people with weak nerves. It is very direct, sometimes a little philisophical, but at no moment over-moralizing in the American way.

The book Sleepers takes place on the streets of Hell's Kitchen in New York. It's about four teenage boys who grew up in a neighborhood full of gangs and mobs. The four boys grew up together and they had planned on growing old together. This plan would've went through successfully, but an event that they caused would change their lives forever. Their daily games of cheating and stealing were inherited by their "leader" Fat Mancho. Fat Mancho's a man, that no one dared to mess with because he was the most powerful man known to Hell's Kitchen. Sometimes the pranks they pulled got out-of-hand especially their last one that sent them all to a home for boys for more than a year. After serving their sentances, they were released. This home for boys that was suppose to "set them straight" was the cause of two cold-blooded killers that were paid to kill, a lawyer with a heart of gold, and a newspaper worker that believed he'd be in his dead end job for all eternity. If you want to know more about this book, you'll have to read it on your own! If you're not the "reading type," then you can just watch the movie! There's so many great details that I decided to save! I usually read horrors or mysteries, so this is a mojor change. I'm extremely glad I chose this book because one I began reading it, I could barely put it down! I highly recommend this book to anyone!

This is an incredible book; powerfully emotional and well written. Though there are many critics who claim that the events Mr. Carcaterra writes of could not have taken place we need only look at the current situations in juvie homes and prisons to see the truth of his story. Sleepers is a skillfully told story of four your boys who, like all kids, make mistakes and have to pay for them. What happens to them, the price extracted, is one of the harshest things that can happen to anyone and it shapes their lives forever after. The loyalty and friendship they have with each other changes as they grow older, but they are still loyal to one another and that is one of the most touching things about this story. If you read this book (and I strongly suggest you do) be prepared for lots of emotion, both positive and negative.

I must confess that I live a rather sheltered life, living in a quiet suburb in Baltimore. However, when I read SLEEPERS, my perspectives on the world were totally altered. These four boys opened my eyes to a world, that before, seemed miles upon miles away. To me, whether this story is fact or fiction does not really matter. Real or not, this story is absolutely amazing. I could see these four boys grow up. I could see their minds change from innocence to a reluctant understanding of brutal reality. I will admit, as many others have, that this book is not for everyone. It's not exactly a stomach pleaser at times. However, this is a MUST READ for those of you who appreciate an uninhibited dose of realism every know and then. The movie, although it leaves some elements out, is worth your time as well.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a thoroughly gripping read. I laughed at times but mostly cried at this beautifully written book, sometimes so traumatised by what I was reading that I had to put the book away for a couple of days.
An act of recklessness changes the lives of four boys forever, in ways they would never have imagined. It breaks down their bodies but never their fighting spirit and years later, revenge could not be sweeter.
The tale is at times too much to stomach; it is so vividly written that you feel you are living the nightmare.
There have been rumours that the book is fiction. I think that something this horrific could never be made up.
I urge everyone to read this fantastic book. All I can say is, I'm glad that priests are human...

Without knowing that there had ever been a controvery about this book's credulity, I skimmed through the online reviews here to see if anyone found this book as unbelieveable as I did. This story is absolutely preposterous! Not only that, but it's downright corny. I'll try not to give any of the plot away, but am I really supposed to believe that court scene? These types of things just don't happen folks. It's laughable, actually.
I agree with the one person online here who said that, with this book, perhaps the author is exacting a revenge that he WISH could have happened. There's just a dripping sentimentality throughout the whole story that reeks of fabrication. By saying that the story is true, Carcaterra drew a lot of attention to himself and the book. Had it been positioned for what it is--fiction--it would have sunk like a dead guy in cement shoes.

Totally recommend this book! I'm a girl who loves mysteries, especially when they're based on true stories. I'm a 15 year old in high school and this book gave me the chills reading it. I honestly thought that ice was going down my back every time I picked up the book. It's based on a true story, the author is one of the boys who lost his childhood and he wrote the book to indicate everything that he went threw growing up; along with his three other friends. Even though a lot of books are based on true stories they do not sound like something interesting. This book on the other hand is based on a true story and you are given facts after facts about what he and his friends endured. He tells you all about his time in a juvenile facility, what got him there, and what happened after he got out, to him and all of his friends!

Sleepers
The book, Sleepers, is about a boy named Lorenzo, also know as Shakes, who lives in New York's Hells Kitchen. He has three friends who have been and always will be his best friends. Tommy, Michael, John, and Shakes are always playing pranks on people. At first they never get caught and never get in much trouble.
Father Bobby, who is the preacher of the local church, is very close to the boys and always tries to get them to stay out of trouble. One day the boys are playing another one of their harmless pranks and everything goes wrong. The boys accidentally kill a man. They do not mean to and are not trying to even hurt anybody, but somehow a man gets killed.
The four friends are sent to The Wilkinson Home for Boys for killing the man. This prison is a very nasty place where the guards are very cruel to the inmates. All the boys have to stay for a year except Shakes; because he is the youngest he does not have to stay as long. During their stay at The Wilkinson Home the boy's lives are changed forever. The guards beat, rape, and abuse the boys almost everyday. Each year there is a football game held in which the inmates and guards play against each other. The guards always win, partly because the inmates are scared to beat them. The inmates are afraid, if they win, that they will get raped or beaten after the game by the guards. However, the four friends are not scared. They play as hard as they can and end up beating the guards and hurting them too.
Shakes is finally allowed to leave the prison but he is sad to leave his friends. He is raped badly the last day and still has bad dreams about it. The boys get through the bad experience but two of them end up being killers, one a lawyer, and Shakes becomes a writer and reporter.
I liked the book a lot and would recommend it to everybody. The story was well written and the characters were very interesting. The book held my attention from the very beginning. I thought the author did a great job in writing this book.

I have now read this book 5 times. and counting. This is my absolute favorite book in the world. It's interesting, funny, sad, disturbing, and MUCH more. I think Carcaterra has an amazing way with words and expression and he really draws you in. I think it would be very hard for him to let us so deep into his horrible experiences as a child. This is a book that can't be put down. I respect Carcaterra and his three friends for all that they went through and survived and did to achieve their revenge. I think they were very brave and wonderful people and that something so sad happened to them is horrible. This book will always be my favorite.

The topic of boys abused in a reform school holds much potential. Though the events Carcaterra described sounded horrific, I found it difficult to empathize. Carcaterra failed to give me any reason to like the main characters in this book - four boys whose mischevious, frequently NASTY, actions he excuses away with the poor and turbulent environment of their Hell's Kitchen residency. The writing is labored and numbing in its repetition. A good book shows; a poor book tells. Carcaterra tells the reader what to think and overanalyzes every plot detail ad nauseum instead of letting the reader come to his or her own conclusions. Trash deserving of its placement on supermarket aisles

THis book is pretty mild...the scenes in which the boys are abused by the guards are mostly cut off and non descriptive. one of the spotlight reviews points out the last part of this book is probably fantasy, and I tend to agree. I would think that it would be next to impossible to pull off what they did to those guys, and even if they did try to switch it like they did, then i would think the way they did it would have nothing to do with their trial results. I think that this was a good attempt and a great story, but would have worked better as a fictional piece...read it and see for yourself.

sleepers is a book that graphically describes the beatings and rapings of four boys in a home for boys.what makes it more dramatic is that the book is a true story,told by lorenzo carcatera,one of the boys.as the kids grow up in hells kitchen,they cause trouble in their neighberhood until one day they go to far and almost kill a man.they pay for that by being sentenced in a home for boys and thats where the abuse happens.i found the book pretty boring sometimes,but you cant deny the pain that these kids went through and it makes you wonder if this could be happening in other facilities of this kind somewhere else,where kids are supposed to get help not get abused.

Lorenzo's specific detailing all throughout the story is a roller coaster of emotions to the reader, it's almost amazing. A great read, even for the readers who aren't fans of reading this book will make tou reep reading till the end!

This book touched me so deeply. It was totally heart felt. This story was shocking and yet heart felt. It is made with great passion and devotion. This story is made with great loyality, revenge, and betrayal. With yet honesty. The way their friendship ended after staying at Wilkinson Home for Boys. Those guards really ruined their lives and got away with it. I hope this never happens again to anyone ever. Despite that some people don't believe that this ever really happened I can't see why Lorenzo would even dream of lying. I think that it was true and told in such great detail.