In Lucky, a memoir hailed for its searing candour and wit, Alice Sebold reveals how her life was utterly transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. What propels this chronicle of her recovery is Sebold's indomitable spirit - as she struggles for understanding ('After telling the hard facts to anyone, from lover to friend, I have changed in their eyes'); as her dazed family and friends sometimes bungle their efforts to provide comfort and support; and ...
Read More
In Lucky, a memoir hailed for its searing candour and wit, Alice Sebold reveals how her life was utterly transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. What propels this chronicle of her recovery is Sebold's indomitable spirit - as she struggles for understanding ('After telling the hard facts to anyone, from lover to friend, I have changed in their eyes'); as her dazed family and friends sometimes bungle their efforts to provide comfort and support; and as, ultimately, she triumphs, managing through grit and coincidence to help secure her attacker's arrest and conviction. In a narrative by turns disturbing, thrilling, and inspiring, Alice Sebold illuminates the experience of trauma victims even as she imparts wisdom profoundly hard-won: 'You save yourself or you remain unsaved.'
Read Less
Add this copy of Lucky to cart. $20.28, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2019 by Picador.
Add this copy of Lucky to cart. $23.94, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2019 by Picador.
Add this copy of Lucky to cart. $24.93, new condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 2019 by Picador.
Add this copy of Lucky (Picador Classic) to cart. $60.15, new condition, Sold by BetterBookDeals rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Toronto, ON, CANADA, published 2019 by Picador.
Add this copy of Lucky to cart. $2.39, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2017 by Scribner Book Company.
Add this copy of Lucky to cart. $2.39, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2017 by Scribner Book Company.
Add this copy of Lucky to cart. $2.39, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2017 by Scribner Book Company.
Add this copy of Lucky to cart. $2.39, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2017 by Scribner Book Company.
A very good read I enjoyed it, not the sort of book that you must keep reading but it is a true story. I preferred her first book "The Lovely Bones"
piafinn
Sep 30, 2008
Taboo
This memoir by Alice Sebold of her brutal rape by a stranger, as a college freshman, was bold, and raw, and disturbing. It came highly recommended, but I kept putting off reading it, because I don't find violence, especially sexual violence, to be entertaining. I also didn't need another reason to worry about my daughter, who lives on campus. I do see her purpose in writing it, though. For herself, first, so she could put it in perspective, and move on. It changed her life and all her relationships. People viewed her differently. She didn't just lose her virginity that night. I think a secondary purpose is for those who read it. Rape is still such a taboo topic, and understandably so, but Sebold tells it like it is, from the event itself, to the arrest and trial, her family's response, and the after-effects, in order to show us what rape looks like, so we can better understand those who survive it. I think her story is still unique, though, because she was raped by a stranger. The few women I personally know of, were raped by acquaintances. It's also rare to get a conviction. It's called Lucky, because she was told by the police, that someone else who was raped in the same tunnel, was murdered and dismembered, so in comparison, she was Lucky. It was well written, and even funny in places, but I can't give it more than three stars because I wouldn't say it was enjoyable to read.
aparajito
Oct 30, 2007
Violence & its Aftermath
In the tunnel where she was raped, a girl had once been murdered and dismembered; the police told this story to Alice Sebold and said that, in comparison, she was lucky. This book is an account of that rape and its aftermath, written with 'mordant wit and an eye for life's absurdities' and an unswerving commitment to truth that spares no one. Fans of Ms. Sebold's magical debut novel, The Lovely Bones, will find both comfort and surprise in Lucky. While they will recognize the voice of a brilliant writer they already know and love, they will find much more to explore in this memoir. Alice Sebold has created another compulsive page turner, and one cannot but be amazed and humbled at her tone; she has achieved what I always thought was impossible, and has crafted a volume that surpasses all restrictions imposed by journalism and autobiography. Lucky does not flinch from brutality and realism, and yet, it manages to offer moments of infinite tenderness and compassion.
SCSUWoman
Aug 30, 2007
Great New Writer
Alice Sebold shows her exquisit awareness of self, both living and immortal in this thrillin memoir. She brings the emotions of her rape to life for her readers in a way that does not shy away from the unspeakable. Her mainpurpose is to show reality as it is and truely "speak the unspeakable". Therefore, this memoir makes us examine the things in our lives that hold us down and shame us because of societal taboos.
kayjay
Apr 3, 2007
Brutal Reality
This is a shockingly brutal story of the rape and beating of a young girl. How the aftermath affected not only her, but her family and friends as well. As Alice struggles to cope with life after this upheaval, creates a book that is hard to set aside. The thing that made me angry and saddened for her is how so many people behaved almost as though it was her own fault. The opposing lawyers in the trial that followed treated her in a very callous manner as did some of the police. Alice prevailed and her attacker was sent to jail but her life was totally changed .
