Customer Reviews

Gorgeous Disaster: The Tragic Story of Debra Lafave

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"Gorgeous Disaster" is a true crime book that chronicles the relationship between accused and convicted child molester Debra Lafave and Owen Lafave, her husband of less than one year. The book gave a lot of details concerning the case and concerning Owen's marriage that have not been made public knowledge before. Owen is a good writer and because he played a part in the story (unknowingly of course) the book is a riveting read. The only thing that I would recommend concerning this book would be a part with pictures in the middle. It would have been interesting seeing pictures of the Lafave wedding, and of Debra when she was younger.

I have to admire Owen Lafave's honest, direct chronicling of this story, this horrible thing that he lived through. I would have expected a lot of bitterness on his part, but surprisingly he delivered the details on the whole teacher-student affair with little animosity. True, he certainly deserves to have some animosity...but he seems to be above it, and I applaud him for that. It would not be easy to be the spouse of a person who cheats on you with a pre-teen.

It's sad that Owen Lafave, who seems like a down-to-earth, all-around good guy, had to fall in love with Debra Lafave, a spoiled brat in every sense of the word. It was difficult for Owen to tell this story, as he says, but I think he did a fantastic job and even though he went through the ultimate betrayal, it was touching that he still spoke of her redeeming qualities, and he was honest enough to admit that he will always have feelings for her. In my opinion, Debra deserves none of this, but this just goes to show how deeply Owen was in love with this woman.

My only real gripe about this book, even though it is not a big one, is the almost constant descriptions of Debra's looks: gorgeous, stunning, breathtaking, and the like. He claims that in any room, all eyes would be on her. Strangers wanted pictures taken with her. Everyone fell in love at the sight of her. While it is wonderful that a man could describe his wife in this way, I do think that Owen put her on much too high of a pedestal. Online pictures of Debra show a cute girl, yes....but 'cute' is as far as I would go. In this book, her looks are described as being on par with a supermodel's....which is certainly generous. The problem is that the media takes somebody who is cute in a very ordinary way, and escalates that to 'gorgeous' and 'model-like.' While I suppose there is nothing wrong with that, the incessant complimenting of her looks in this book grew tiresome.

Still....very well-written overall. I admire Owen Lafave for telling this story and having the courage to bring awareness to this topic through the projects he has become involved in. He took a bad situation and is using it to help students all across the nation, and for that, many are thankful.

Despite the fact that this tale pushes the frontier of lurid to new continents, the authors were able to find fresh angles and new ways of looking at this societal nightmare. LaFave & Simon seem to go out of their way to take the relative high road in the telling. The details are shocking but the retrospective thoughts and observations of this hapless ex-husband are made food for thought by co-author, William Simon. "Could this happen to me or anyone I know?" is the question that keeps cropping up as the plot unfolds and once again proves the ancient adage, "Truth is stranger than fiction." The story, as well as the writing style, is captivating.

This is an excellent and sensitive account of an important story that Newspaper headlines failed to understand. Gorgeous Disaster reads like a well crafted novel and gives insights into an American tragedy. Overall a great and captivating read that you will not be able to stop reading.

-Bill G.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but was a little disappointed in it. I agree with "DF"'s comments. The book comes across as a little self-serving on Owen LaFave's part. He paints himself as the long-suffering good guy of a husband, which he may be, but there are generally 3 sides to every story - his, hers and the truth (not minimizing what Ms. LaFave did). Also, Mr. LaFave needs to purchase a thesaurus if he plans on writing any more books - the use of the word "gorgeous" becomes trite and tedious. There are many other words that can be used to convey that something or someone is appealing to the eye. Overall, it is a pretty good book, but it smacks of using his personal adversity to make a few bucks.

Incredible book. I was totally intrigued. Debra really was sick but I feel that her husband was most likely rough to live with also.

the book explores her life and explains how she came to many decisions. It's a sad story, she's a victim in alot of ways. It was a really good book.

First, this book is badly edited -- or, frankly, I truly wonder if anyone even made an attempt at it. No publisher should be in that much of a hurry.

Second, I read this book because Debra LaFave came before the court again very recently. Only then did I become curious enough to look into the story.

And finally, in Gorgeous Disaster, here is the voice I hear from Owen LaFave:
I loved this gorgeous creature, couldn't help it really, married her as a test, which incidently didn't take. Mostly, I did well as a husband to this beauty. She needed training. I put up with it all because, aside from her obvious problems, she had many good qualities.

You know, now that I'm writing this, he makes his relationship to Debra sound like owning a dog. Perhaps it's just the manner in which the book was written. But, often I found myself wincing rather than being sympathetic to his feelings. I would say that this man is simply not too deep. It's easy to conjure up the image of someone falling down, jumping right up, brushing off his clothing, finding a lottery ticket at his feet, and cashing it in as fast as he can.

So, in conclusion, this book does not offer anything but a somewhat whiney, salacious exerpt. The last chapter will give you some hints on what to look for in a teacher predator.

I saw Owen interviewed on MSNBC last week and bought the book as a result. I've seen him interviewed many times over this difficult ordeal and have always been amazed at the manner in which he carries himself and conducts interviews, but the only problem was every interviewer asked the same questions. I wanted to hear other information from him and Gorgeous Disaster explains far more than I was expecting and is extremely well written. The facts are both interesting and shocking. I find it troubling to read reviews of the book that attack Owen as if anything he could have said or done differently would have kept Debra from committing this crime. It's well-known that Debra received a much lighter sentence than a man in her situation would have received, and the review attacking Owen is yet another example of a double standard in our society. The book reveals that Debra feels she's a victim in all of her relationships. Owen is one of many victims in this tragedy, and I commend him for coming forward and providing detail that is clearly embarrassing for him yet potentially helpful to educators who strive to make a positive difference in our children's lives, and Owen has definitely been helpful to parents. I feel sorry for Debra, but she is not a victim, she's a predator just as her criminal record reflects.

Owen Lafave does a great job deconstructing his relationship with Debra, and given time and with the clarity of hindsight, provides a thought provoking and candid picture of his realtionship with Debra Lafave. Mr. Lafave relates the painful and embarrassingly public indiscretions of his wife with incredible honesty and candor. Debra left many victims in her wake, not just her "victim", but her husband, friends, family, and all of the students who were affected by her horrible judgement.