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The Meaning Of Matthew: My Son's Murder In Laramie, And A World Transformed (2009)

by Judy Shepard(Favorite Author)

4.26 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1594630577 (ISBN13: 9781594630576)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Hudson Street Press

review 1: This very moving book tells the story of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student who was beaten to death and tied to a fence in Laramie, Wyoming, and whose death sparked a nationwide movement to pass hate crimes legislation to protect LGBT people. Matthew Shepard's mother, Judy, describes how she went from a loving parent to an activist after her son was killed. Her descriptions of the trial, and her time in the hospital at Matthew's side were heartbreaking, and I like the fact that she presented Matthew realistically, with all his good qualities showing clearly, but she did not make him into a saint. She wrote about the emotional problems he had and the bad choices he made, and was honest about the fact that he wasn't a perfect, angelic son. Matthew Shepard had a lot of ... moreproblems in a short life, but he was getting his life back on track when it was so cruelly and brutally taken away from him. There were times when I winced at this book, knowing that she was being so honest, and knowing that people who really hate gay people could use some of her honesty to attack Matthew and make it seem like he was not a true victim. I'm sure some people would do that, I'm sure many already have – I've seen headlines of articles of people attacking Matthew – here's the thing, does the fact that a kid got into a few fights and one or 2 run-ins the police (while coping with the aftermath of a violent gang rape, I might add) mean that he deserve to be beaten and left for dead because of his sexual orientation? It made me angry to think that people would feel that Matthew deserved what he got. Just because he wasn't perfect. Matthew came across as being a truly kind, wonderful human being and I that we would've been friends if we had known each other in college. I remember the movement that sprang up after Matthew's death, and I remember reading about it in the newspapers and watching part of a documentary about him. This was a truly sad story, but I was impressed with Judy and her courage and the courage of the rest of Matthew's family, and I was moved to learn more about Matthew, a truly remarkable person who was kind, trusting, and, though not perfect, definitely a person who could have made the world a much better place.
review 2: I feel like I cheated because I did not technically "read" this book; rather, I listened to the audiobook, poignantly narrated by Judy and Dennis Shepard, and found it extremely moving. In 1998 I was too young to follow the case and have, since that time, become very aware of Judy's work and Matthew's story, but to hear a mother tell her son's story in such a loving and personal manner was amazing and brought the Shepard case into a brand new light. The sparsity of Judy's language, the slow steady pace of her spoken words, and the clarity of Dennis' voice breathed so much beauty and emotion into the story of a young man, neither saint nor sinner, we thought we all knew but could never know as well as his own mother. less

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