ŷ������

***NO SPOILERS***

Common rape fallacies:

1) Many women “cry rape.��

2) Many rape victims are the ones who choose not to charge and prosecute their rapists.

3) Most rapists don’t know their victims.

4) Most rapists are punished.

If you think the United States is one of the most forward-thinking countries when it comes to this monstrous crime, if you think police do everything in their power to protect rape victims, if you think most people understand rape in general, you’d be sorely mistaken, and you are meant to read this book.

Drawing on rock-solid research, renowned investigative reporter Jon Krakauer expertly tore apart every myth surrounding rape and covered so much more in this crucial work of nonfiction. He began by putting a human face on a crime that affects a mind-boggling number of women (and men, but Krakauer focused on women) by opening with the story of one rape victim, then deftly moving on to a handful of others. Missoula’s hook is immediate, and thanks to Krakauer’s signature fluid writing, this book reads like an engrossing work of fiction; read the first few pages of chapter one and just try to set this aside.

He chose Missoula, Montana very deliberately. It’s a typical college town, and Krakauer wanted to highlight the widespread epidemic of campus rape. Additionally, Missoula in particular has been hit especially hard by allegations of campus sexual assault and rape. Finally, and an absolutely essential point, this is a town whose residents are thoroughly enraptured by the University of Montana football team, the Grizzlies. (In fact, the fandom is so impassioned and their loyalty so blind and all-consuming that the town is lovingly dubbed “Grizzlyville.��) All rape victims--not just those in college--rarely see justice served, but Krakauer’s decision to home in specifically on college football–obsessed Missoula couldn’t have worked more perfectly to underscore a horrifying general truth. Quite simply, it is this: if your rapist happens to be beloved, expect the worst from the criminal justice system--and scathing, inexorable torment from the public. Woe to the Missoula victim whose rapist happens to be a revered “Griz.��

Krakauer presented staggering statistics that no doubt will enrage and stun most readers to the core and painted a damning portrait of the criminal justice system. The crime is disgracefully handled almost across the board, and that is a crime in itself. So many of these failures could be prevented if the complexity of rape, and victims�� often counterintuitive responses while being raped, were genuinely just understood. By the end, there’s one thing Missoula has made abundantly clear: extensive education on rape is desperately needed, for all. As things stand now, in supposedly enlightened 2016, much of the public and far too many police officers and lawyers remain disturbingly misinformed.

It must be stated that because Missoula addresses shortcomings in how the criminal justice system handles rape, it’s focused on a handful of victims. Given the topic, it has to be. This is not to say, however, that it’s biased. The other side didn’t get the short end of the stick; very much on the contrary. Every little fact was included. Both sides were depicted fully. Court transcripts were presented verbatim. All research was meticulous to a fault. Like all of Krakauer’s books in recent years, Missoula is investigative. Krakauer’s ability to remain dispassionate is one of the things that makes his writing so wondrous.

Don’t shelve Missoula on the to-read list and allow it languish alongside that forgotten book you shelved in 2008 and the “should-read�� classic you know you’ll never read. The time for this book is now.

Complementary documentary viewing: "Audrie and Daisy"

Bonus: Following is a very short article about campus rape. Specifically, it concerns, “a campaign called ‘Unacceptable Acceptance Letters,�� [which] is an imagining [in video form] of what it would look like if colleges owned up to the problem of rape on their campuses--and how they’re failing to address it--right off the bat.�� Please read (and watch).

Update, May 27, 2016: Shades of Missoula:

Update, June 9, 2016: Judge sentences Stanford University student who raped unconscious fellow student to just six months in jail because "a harsher penalty would have a 'severe impact' on the aspiring athlete":

Update, March 25, 2017: "Nearly 15% of female undergraduates at UT Austin report being raped":

Update, November 7, 2019: "Why I Froze and Smiled During My Sexual Assault"