Chase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius

by John Carlin Narrated by Gideon Emery

Overview

Oscar Pistorius was eleven months old when he had both legs amputated below the knee, due to congenital fibular disease. Despite this severe disability, Pistorious grew up to be an extraordinary athlete, inspirational role model, and global symbol of resilience. In 2012 he became the first amputee runner in history to compete in the Olympics and was hailed as a hero not only in his native South Africa but around the world.

Everything changed for Pistorius in the early morning hours of February 14, 2013-Valentine's Day-when he shot and killed his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, through a closed bathroom door, allegedly because he mistook her for an intruder intent on doing him harm. He was arrested and charged with premeditated murder, and overnight, the public's view of Pistorius turned on its head.

Not since the O. J. Simpson case has a courtroom drama riveted global attention on one man's fate. Acclaimed journalist John Carlin's vivid firsthand account of Pistorius's seven-month murder trial, broadcast worldwide from Johannesburg, details the wrenching emotional breakdowns and merciless interrogation of the accused on and off the stand, the fraught relationship between the Pistorius and Steenkamp families, and the highly controversial verdict of culpable homicide, for which Pistorius received a five-year sentence.

But Chase Your Shadow is far more than just a sensational crime story, as Carlin shows through meticulous reporting and extensive access to Pistorius and his family and friends. This courtroom confrontation between a white, privileged, twenty-seven-year-old male athlete on trial for murder and the black female judge who alone would decide his fate-held in a democratic country trying to exorcise its history of racial hatred and endemic violence against women-exposes the complex social and political realities of post-Apartheid South Africa.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Carlin offers complete and absorbing coverage of this bizarre story, removing the mask from a previously one-dimensional role model.” — Kirkus Reviews

JULY 2015 - AudioFile

The world was shocked when South African Paralympian and international track star Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee nicknamed the "Blade Runner" because of his prosthetic racing legs, shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, claiming that he mistook her for a nighttime invader in his Pretoria home. Narrator Gideon Emery recounts the background story in an agreeable British accent and employs a South African accent for Pistorius and his family, Steenkamp's family, and those involved in his legal case, as well as Pistorius's acquaintances of other nationalities. In Emery's portrayal, Pistorius sounds rather feeble throughout as he is overwhelmed by his situation. Emery also gives a higher-pitched South African voice to for Judge Masipa for the extended passage in which she unveils her ruling. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2014-12-02
An engaging biography of the Olympic sprinter and convicted killer we thought we knew.Carlin (Knowing Mandela: A Personal Portrait, 2013, etc.) reveals the likely impulses of Oscar Pistorius, the South African double-leg amputee and international symbol of courage and determination who shot and killed his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, on Feb. 14, 2013. The peculiar circumstances of the shooting and the globally televised trial riveted the world. The author has sufficient access to provide seemingly direct narration from the crime scene. He describes Pistorius as "almost fainting from the rotting metal stench of her wounds, battling to get a purchase on her soaked, slippery frame…." He was "howling in despair" and "beseeching God to let her live." Carlin recounts Pistorius' triumphant racing career and persona as a brave and invulnerable athlete ("half-man, half-machine") and reveals the self-delusion necessary to mask his desire to be seen as normal (the author explains how Pistorius, who is white, was adored by all races in post-apartheid South Africa. The first disabled runner to compete in the Olympic Games, his success embodied "what all races like to see as the indomitable national spirit." However, following that tragic night in February 2013, Pistorius' image immediately changed from "the greatest national hero for South Africans of all races since Mandela" to a calculating criminal charged with premeditated murder. Overall, Carlin's reporting is detailed and quick-moving, aside from some overly detailed sections that some readers may skim—e.g., the crafting of Pistorius' metal and silicone running blades in Iceland; encounters with his loyal, fervent devotees ("Pistorians"). The author offers complete and absorbing coverage of this bizarre story, removing the mask from a previously one-dimensional role model. The fascinating story of a once-invincible man "who has made the best of the cards that life has dealt him but…revealed himself to possess to an equally extreme degree the insecurities that all are prey to."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170324637
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/09/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

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