Sleepers Mass Market Paperback – March 2, 1996

Wow. That was moving. It was most certainly difficult to read at certain parts, namely through the abuse that these 4 young boys endured, especially if you consider that this is supposed to be based of real events that happened to the author and his friends. I guess there was some controversy with that, some people claiming that this was not based on true events, but I'm not here to speak of that one way or another. Either way I think this was a powerful, emotional journey, and I am glad to have read it.I loved how this book was split up into three separate parts, the beginning which gave you a look at who these boys were, their individual home lives, and the neighborhood they came from, which was almost a living breathing character in itself. Then the middle was the time they spent inside Wilkinson Home for Boys, where the horrific events that changed their lives forever took place. After that came years later with all the boys having turned into men, and you got to see the how changed these people truly are after the events that took place in that year they spent in the Hell that was Wilkinson. And you also got to see a glorious plan of vigilante justice unravel.There were so many elements that made this story as incredible to me as it was. I really enjoyed how their hometown, Hell's Kitchen, was portrayed in this story. You were completely immersed in this place with the characters, which truly felt like it was a world of it's own, separate from the rest of us, with it's own way of living and rules to live by. It was comparable to reading a good fantasy novel, with amazing world building, and I was very impressed by it. I also loved these characters, I feel in love with these goofy, mischievous boys after just a few chapters. And reading about their suffering broke me. It was so crushing hearing the atrocities they lived through, and it brought out my own desperate want for vengeance. It's a pretty solid accomplishment for an author to blur the lines of right and wrong for the readers, and those lines were obliterated in certain aspects in this novel. I rooted for their thirst of blood from the men that had taken so much from them. I ended this book honestly thinking that those monstrous guards at the Wilkinson Home for Boys deserved so much worse than they actually got, and that's something because I'm a pretty peaceful person.It was such an emotional journey, alternating between filling my heart up with love for some of these characters, and hate for others. This story definitely made you question a lot of things though, can vengeance make a difference? Does it even partially fill the hole that was carved in you in the first place? When is the time to take things into your own hands, is it your right to dole out your own form of justice? Can one event change the entire course of your life? What about one poor decision?The relationships in this book were beautifully portrayed. They were enduring of so much. Too much. I also loved Father Bobby, and even King Benny. And then there were the more quite characters, like the English teacher in Wilkinson who gave Shakes the copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, or Marlboro man, the guard who saved them at least one indignity, that made such an impact, even though their actions and appearance in the book in general were so small. You couldn't help but hold onto those small good things. They were a ray of sunshine on the bleakest of days. They gave you a sliver of hope that some people are good, they care.The ending was rather bittersweet to me. I wanted so much more for these people than they ultimately got. I would definitely recommend this novel, to EVERYONE! Seriously, you should read this, it's an incredible story. Now I'm kind of dying to see the movie, Robert DeNiro, Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon and Dustin Hoffman, that's an all-star cast for sure! And now I'll leave you with a few of my favorite quotes..."I'm beggin' you," he said, his voice breaking, "Try to forgive me. Please. Try.""Learn to live with it," I told him, getting up from the table."I can't," he said. "Not anymore.""Then die with it," I said. looking at him hard. "Just like the rest of us.""It doesn't take very long to know how tough a person you are or how strong you can be. I knew from my first day at Wilkinson that I was neither tough nor strong. It takes only a moment for the fear to find its way, to seep through the carefully constructed armor. Once it does, it finds a permanent place. It is true for a hardened criminal as it is for a young boy.""Do me a favor, would ya, Ness?" Davenport said, putting the gun in his pocket."What?""I ever make it onto your s*** list, give me a call," he said. "Give me a chance to apologize."

Of all the books I have read that were made into movies this one stays true to the story. Movies are usually glorified but not this one. Good reading 👍.

This is a great book about the coming of age of four boys. It has nice short chapters which I like because you can easily pick it up for just a few minutes at a time. You can really connect with each of the characters based on the stories from their childhood. Which makes it emotionally gripping, especially in the middle of the book. All in all this is an easy read and you can burn through it relatively quickly. I highly recommend it.

Saw the movie many years ago wanted to read the book good read

One out of four ain’t bad. Wait! Yes it is! It is very bad!I really don’t know how to put into words the things I am thinking right now. So I will try to make a list.1. I taught junior high school for 32 years. I rarely met a “bad” boy or girl, and I never met a stupid child. But I did meet some pretty bad and stupid adults.2. The life of a child is a terrible thing to waste.3. There is no adequate punishment for a person who destroys the life of a child for his own pleasure.4. Who gave these freaks they called guards the power to do whatever they felt like to these children?5. Where were the people with authority over these guards? Who was holding them to account? Where was the breakdown? Did they just assume things were fine? Did they never once think to check on the cries of pain and anguish coming from the cells? Or could they just not be bothered? After all, these were “bad boys” who got what was coming to them, right?That is a pretty inadequate list, but the magnitude of the crimes against these children cannot even be measured.This book took my breath away. My heart will forever ache for the things these boys had to endure at the hands of so-called adults. I know similar things take place today, and not only in institutions, but in many other places, even within families. How do we stop the abuse?One of the four boys of this story made it through in reasonable fashion to be able to tell the story. And although I am grateful he did, 1:4 is not very good odds.

Very well written. Horrifying to read what they went through... yet I felt their redemption was extremely well executed. Just brilliant!This isn't my usual genre of reading, but this author is amazing in presenting us with the truth of what it's like to really live in some of the boroughs of New York City.

This book follows the lives of four boys from Hell’s Kitchen. Due to a childhood prank they end up in a juvenile detention facility. This true story tells of abuse they suffered at the hands of four men who worked there. Couldn’t put the book down, read it in three days! If you’ve ever seen the movie of the same name this book will definitely interest you!

Adoro livros que tratam de assuntos pesados, e esse passa a sensação com perfeição. A adaptação pra filme também é ótima

The best book, I love the way characters are described, you can feel the emotions in his words, make you feel you are in Hell’s Kitchen

This is the story of four boys who grew up in Hell’s Kitchen NY. They were the best of friends and loved being together and causing mischief. That is until one of their pranks goes terribly wrong and ends up nearly killing a gentleman. The four boys are sentenced to The Wilkinson Home for Boys. Over the course of their year there, their innocence was lost forever. Enduring terrible beatings and horrific sexual abuse all at the hands of four guards.Years later one of them has become a reporter, another a lawyer. And two have grown up to become murderers. All they want is revenge, and they have found the perfect way to extract it.Sleepers is an extraordinary true story of four men who take the law into their own hands.This memoir is so well written and very difficult to put down. It is raw and real and heartbreaking. There were points that I had to put it down to take a breath because what those poor men went through as boys is just devastating.

Il libro è arrivato puntuale e integro.é veramente piccino e scritto anche piccolino, ottimo da mettere in borsa, magari un pò scomodo per una lettura rilassata.Avevo prima visto il film e dopo ho deciso di leggere il libro in lingua originale.I dialoghi sono quasi tutti con slag e forme contratte tipiche della parlata di strada, eccetto ovviamente la parte che si svolge nel tribunale.Ben approfonditi i personaggi, la parte della giovinezza è quasi 1/3 del libro, poi molta parte dedicata al Wilkinson e una parte molto più breve ma molto intensa del tribunale.Non è una lettura leggera, anche solo per gli argomenti trattati, lo consiglio caldamente.

Such a compelling story. Everyone should read this book! Wonderfully written and brilliantly executed!