Thousand Cuts

by Simon Lelic Narrated by Patricia Connolly, James Clamp, Charlotte Parry, Colin McPhillamy, Elizabeth Jasicki, John Curless

Overview

A former journalist, Simon Lelic caused quite a buzz in the literary world with his stunning debut. A Thousand Cuts is a mesmerizing novel that explores the horrifying consequences of discrimination and bullying. Samuel Szajkowski, a recently hired history teacher, walks into his school with a gun and murders three students and a colleague before turning the weapon on himself. What follows should be an open-and-shut case. As Detective Inspector Lucia May begins digging, however, she discovers a toxic culture that drove a teacher to desperation. But before she can reveal her findings, she must overcome the rampant sexism of her colleagues, and confront two people who wish to suppress the truth. Unfolding as a series of interviews with witnesses and survivors, A Thousand Cuts is brilliantly performed by a full cast of Recorded Books narrators. "Lelic wastes not a word in this searing indictment of a culture inured to cruelty ." -Booklist, starred review

Editorial Reviews

Marilyn Stasio

…an electrifying first novel…meticulously constructed…
—The New York Times

Publishers Weekly

In the wake of a London school shooting, Det. Insp. Lucia May finds herself unable to accept the simple version of what transpired in Lelic’s outstanding debut—that Samuel Szajkowski, a new history teacher, gunned down two students and a colleague in an assembly hall before turning the weapon on himself. While Szajkowski was the subject of cruel pranks from his first day on the job, pranks that escalated to serious physical injury, May resists her supervisor’s directives to write a straightforward final report, and looks into a possible link between the massacre and an off-campus beating of a student. Artfully offering a range of perspectives on the events leading up to the fatal day, Lelic manages to make the murderer sympathetic as he sensitively explores the varying degrees of responsibility for the tragedy borne by others whose response to bullying was inadequate. This deeply human and moving book heralds a bright new talent. (Mar.)

FEBRUARY 2011 - AudioFile

Police inspector Lucia May tries to uncover the reasons behind a teacher having killed five people at a school assembly before turning the gun on himself. Chapters alternate between the points of view of the witnesses and the inspector. Listening to students, teachers, and staff relate, in their own voices, the ongoing bullying aimed at teacher Samuel Szajkowski provides an intense listening experience. It’s chilling to hear them relate pranks that quickly escalated to abusiveness without remorse. Less successful are the chapters in which a narrator tells Lucia’s story as she begins to see parallels between her own circumstances and the those of the shooter. A chilling yet timely story of the consequences that can explode in a culture that ignores bullying. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171109295
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	07/09/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged

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