Our Guys (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Ros Faber didn't want to fret about her daughter, but she felt that familiar sense of uneasiness tug at her as she saw Leslie running..." (more)
Key Phrases: aggravated sexual contact, jock clique, pretrial program, Glen Ridge, Leslie Faber, Bryant Grober (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Leslie, a sweet-natured young woman with the mental age of an 8-year-old, just wanted to be friends with the high school football stars. When they invited her down into the basement rec room of a suburban home, she jumped with joy at being included. The young men raped her--with a baseball bat and a broomstick. In this vividly detailed book, Bernard Lefkowitz brings us into the daily life of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, the hometown of Tom Cruise. It's an affluent white community that values propriety, order, discretion, continuity, and a fantasy of the gentleman-athlete. Lefkowitz writes of the boys who raped Leslie: "'These Glen Ridge kids, they were pure gold, every mother's dream, every father's pride. They were not only Glen Ridge's finest, but in their perfection they belonged to all of us. They were Our Guys." What's ultimately most shocking about this crime is how ordinary it was, how predictable--how in one way or another it's happening now, all across America. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Curiosity, says journalist Lefkowitz (Tough Change: Growing Up on Your Own in America, Free Pr., 1987), brought him to investigate the web of circumstances contributing to the 1989 alleged gang rape by teenage jocks of a 17-year-old retarded girl in a seemingly image-perfect New Jersey town. The theme of this compelling narrative is disturbing?the difficulty of achieving gender justice compounded by the fact that the socially isolated young woman chose compliance in the naive hope of acceptance, and a set of community values that put young male athletes on pedestals, their various "transgressions" ignored or dismissed. Glen Ridge is probably not an atypical community. Parents, teachers, and others need to understand what Lefkowitz so capably exposes about the "All-American" male cultural setting. Highly recommended for a broad readership.?Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Alfred
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books Ed edition (April 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375702695
• ISBN-13: 978-0676540642
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #132,751 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #26 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Abuse & Self Defense > Rape
  #36 in	Books > Nonfiction > Crime & Criminals > Gangs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Revealing Study, April 15, 2001

By	BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is probably one of the most riveting and chilling books I have ever read. More of a sociological and cultural study than a "true crime" book, the author, Bernard Lefkowitz details the story of a young retarded woman ("Leslie") who was raped by "the Jocks" in the town of Glen Ridge, NJ. Many of these young men had been trouble since middle school years, but they were the golden boys, the star athletes, in a town that revered athleticism and competition. The behavior of one of the defendants was so disgusting and bizarre, for many years, but he was never held responsible. As Lefkowitz said, you walked into the high school and saw a huge trophy cabinet containing trophies, game balls, and all the other accoutrements of winning sporst teams. But where was the honor roll list?

These boys had been raised to feel empowered, that they could get away with things that other *mortals* could not. They treated most women and girls with disrespect. They had very little contact with girls or women in a situation where the girls could be their *equals*, since all of their activities involved sports teams. None of them did volunteer work, were on the school paper, or in activities where they worked on an equal footing with females. What was especially alarming and dismaying was that the girls, the Jockettes or Little Mothers, as Lefkowitz calls them---put up with the vile behavior of these boys and defended them!!!! I kept thinking of bits from "Reviving Ophelia" when I read about these girls. They must have felt that they had no identity apart from these boys.

Lefkowitz writes of the boys who raped Leslie: "'These Glen Ridge kids, they were pure gold, every mother's dream, every father's pride. They were not only Glen Ridge's finest, but in their perfection they belonged to all of us. They were Our Guys."

This next quote is from the book, and refers to Laurino, who was the prosecutor in the case: "But there was something else about this case, something that seemed to provoke him more than it provoked his fellow prosecutors: the values of the defendants. He discerned in their relatively brief lives a pattern of abuse of power, a corruption of decent intent, for which these young men andmany of those who had guided them shared responsibility."

It was beyond his reach, but if he could have done so, Laurino would have convicted the values of Glen Ridge. "They believed themselves to be invincible....that problems that would arise would be taken care of out of the deep pockets of their parents or the compassion of a small-town police department or the compassion of a small-town school system or the compassion of small-town residents who knew each other and wanted to handle things among themselves. They've been getting free rides all their life."

I would highly recommend this book, especially for parents, coaches, and teachers. This lionization of student athletes by these people ultimately does no one any good and can destroy lives. There has to be a better way.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Will Scare The Big-H Out Of You, April 12, 2002

By	J. Reynolds (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

"Our Guys" is a frightening account of a bunch of football players who sexually abused a mentally impaired girl, and how people in their social orbit rose to support them after the crime came to light.

Anyone from a high school where football players were special beings, or who is familiar with that phenomenon, will appreciate the focus of "Our Guys." The power these kids exercised in Glen Ridge was atrocious, as was their behavior. Enabled by their parents, teachers and peers, they dominated social situations, treated girls like trash, turned parties into destruction derbies and pretty much behaved like animals.

The story is told very well, making for interesting reading. And particularly if you have kids approaching or presently living their teen years, it will scare the H out of you.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How true, July 7, 2004

By A Customer

I have seen some reviewers complain that this book stereotypes the rich or panders to stereotypes against athletes. Let me say that those stereotypes exist for a reason, and that this author is dead on. The high school portrayed in the novel and its predatory athletes reminded me so much of my school that I couldn't put it down. The boys in the book were allowed to get away with everything their entire lives, thanks to their doting parents who spoiled them rotten, their teachers who sucked up to them because their trophies and awards made the school look good, and the girls that fawned over them because of their looks. They knew they could do whatever they wanted, which is why they decided to sadistically rape a mentally retarded girl. This kind of stuff goes on in many perfect suburban communities, featuring "All-American guys", except most of the time it doesn't make the news. An excellent book on a disturbing topic.