Without Consent

"Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town" (2015) is a meticulously researched, carefully written, engaging listen. It's also relentlessly horrifying and enraging.

Jon Krakauer is an outstanding investigative journalist and sometimes literally puts himself into the story, as he did in his 1997 book, "Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster." Although Krakauer must have been present for part of the judicial proceedings he described in the book, he isn't part of "Missoula." That seems to have allowed him an objectivity that's often missing in college acquaintance rape reporting.

Krakauer tells the story of several young women who reported rapes by university football players to the University of Montana and to the Missoula Police Department. The Missoula County Attorneys' Office was tasked with prosecuting those cases. At the same time these young women filed complaints, the United States Department of Justice was secretly investigating handling of sexual violence cases in Missoula.

Even though Krakauer's writing has been pretty even handed in the past, I expected a smear of UM, its football team, and its athletic department. I was surprised to find a lot to admire in how the school administration handled the situation, especially former Dean of Students Charles Couture. University students and the town in general were sometimes rabidly on the side of the accused, but Couture followed national standard guidelines and procedures in handling the complaints. The Missoula PD missed the mark from time to time, but seemed to try.

The Missoula County Attorney's Office - well, that's another story entirely. Kirsten Pabst, an attorney who likes to boast of her 99% success rate, was in charge of the unit that prosecuted sex crimes. Well, if you only prosecute the 12% of the cases that are sure winners, you'll get a good ratio. That's not the worst of it. Pabst left the MCAO in 2012 and worked as a criminal defense attorney for a year and a half. Her only major trial was defending one of the accused rapists. After that, she was elected to head the MCAO, where she's back in charge of prosecuting sex crimes.

No, I am not kidding.

When I was fact checking to write this review (writing Audible reviews is just a hobby, but it's a serious hobby), I found an article in The Missoulian, called "Pabst made last-ditch effort to delay publication of 'Missoula'" (April 15, 2015). The Missoulian said that Pabst tried to convince the publisher, Doubleday, that the book was libelous. She wasn't successful, and a week letter, she published a rebuttal letter on the Montana Public Radio website, mtpr dot org, "Missoula County Prosecutor Kirsten Pabst's Statement on Jon Krakauer's Book" (April 22, 2015). One quote? "The author wrote on the assumption that a prosecutor’s job is to blindly seek convictions." Krakauer's discussion of the duties and responsibilities of criminal prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys was thorough, nuanced and worthy of a law school class in Ethics.

Past's rebuttal mentions, "100% of the time defendants who can be convicted at trial will either plead guilty or be taken to trial" demonstrates that Pabst makes herself judge and jury, both of victims and of the press. Krakauer and his publishers ignored the MCAO's threats and published anyway, and that's good.

The book is extremely graphic at times. One of my teenagers inadvertently overheard a few lines and was very disturbed. Mozhan Marno narrates, and I do think a woman reader was a good choice.

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Safety

More than the horrific details that I expected in a book about violence, I was greatly taken aback by the almost equally disturbing responses of the adults who supported the perpetrators of rape--most of whom had confessed. If I can raise my son to commit himself to making the world safer for women, I will consider it an accomplishment.

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Disturbing

There are two authors whose books I purchase as soon as they hit the shelves. They are Erik Larson and Jon Krakauer. Larson weaves history and humanity into incredibly vivid and interesting books. Krakauer's work is generally a much harsher look at the most disturbing aspects of our lives.

My son got me hooked on Krakauer's books when he gave me a copy of "Into Thin Air." I don't climb mountains--I am afraid of heights and cannot go higher than two steps up a ladder. So I could not figure out why my son would want me to read that book. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. And I have read every one of his books since then, with the exception of "Three Cups of Deceit"--which I will get to one of these days (I just haven't been in the right mood for that one). I read "Under the Banner of Heaven" during the time my son was a ranger at Zion National Park, and it gave me nightmares.

This book--"Missoula"--is written with Krakauer's usual in-depth research, and his pull-no-punches style. Everything is laid bare, and some of it is extremely difficult to listen to.

At first, I thought having a woman narrator seemed a bit odd for a book written by this author, but I soon began to understand why it had to be a woman. I'm not sure a man could have read this story with the empathy and conviction of this narrator.

I'm not really going to say anything more about the content of this book, except that it is deeply disturbing, and I hope it will be a catalyst for a much needed change in the way sexual assault is handled in this country.

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Let's read between the lines.

This book is everything it should be. I have nothing but praise for how it was written and presented. Surely Jon Krakauer hopes his work makes a difference. Great literature can inspires action. But if it is to have lasting value we ought to read between the lines. The fact that rape happens on college campuses and so much of it goes unprosecuted is entirely predictable given the circumstances. Did we always have this problem? Could there simply be a lack of common sense to blame for this misery? I think so.
Suppose we wanted to duplicate this phenomenon someplace where it never existed. You might begin by mixing immature males and females together. Somewhere in the distant past were educators saying that co-education was a bad idea. They pretty much lost the debate. Next you want to expect old heads on young shoulders. Never mind the fact that an ideal school steers the young toward healthy, well-adjusted living. Now slowly and carefully distance these people from the archaic virtue of chastity. Be sure to poo-poo the notion that a woman’s sexuality is as close to sacred as anything about her can be. That sort of thinking was left in the Victorian age. Ubiquitous pornography will be a boon toward this effort because it expressly cheapens women and sex and men respond reflexively to visual stimulation.
The most important ingredient is something that America once made illegal for everyone, with good reason. We know that prohibition failed but assume for a moment that it failed because alcohol was never a threat to civility in the first place. Do your best to downplay the obvious evidence that getting drunk invariably leads to stupid, destructive and regrettable behavior. Say it is a “rite of passage.” This will imply that those who don’t get shit-faced from time to time are lacking something.
Finally, make athletics more important in this culture than the original reason the school was founded. Make idols of the young men who succeed in the sport. Ignore the truth that young woman are naturally enthralled with the victorious, confident, conquering male and you will surely get the desired result.
The late Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously stated “culture is more important than politics.” When a culture makes no effort to control base human nature, indeed denies there is such a thing as base human nature, it must fall back on law, and as Solzhenitsyn remarked, “law is not quite good enough for man.” This book shows that it certainly isn’t good enough for our college students.

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Outstanding book and well narrated

I thought this book was an excellent outline of a social problem with serious consequences.

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May as well read the trial transcripts

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Much of the book is simply a recitation of transcripts from the trial of Jordan Johnson and the sentencing hearing of Beau Donaldson. It got tedious and boring. I wanted Krakauer to provide more than a copy of transcripts. Also, I constantly found myself irritated by Krakauer's obvious bias against the accused. I wish he had presented the information more neutrally.

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Should be required reading on every college campus.

Brilliantly written and thoroughly researched. The justice system is inadequate to respond to the needs of victims of acquaintance rape.

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Just the 'kick-in-the-pants' needed - Superb!

Mr. Krakauer once again delivers a book so expertly written with truth as to stand clear and above the noise of our day. A heart wrenching topic that caused even me, a rape victim, purchase hesitation - but my trust in this author was warranted. He tells the incredibly complexity story of a community in denial and the young women forever changed. Thank you Mr. Krakauer. Read it America.

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This book should be required reading

This book does a fantastic job describing the reality of most rapes as not being "a guy in the bushes with a ski mask on." It makes you understand the dynamics that happen with date rape and the effects on the victim. The narrator is fantastic. The second half covers a lot of what happens in the legal process of a rape investigation and trial but is equally interesting. Highly recommend this to anyone greater than 16 due to graphic nature.

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Krakauer, A Crusader for Justice

Krakauer does it again and sticks his nose, where most people don't care to venture. Krakauer is one of the bravest men I know. He is a true investigator who takes on the people, everyone else is scared to touch. Just as I finished this book up today, the news has stories about Baylor, a Baptist college. An independent investigation found football players raping young women and coaches covering for them. This story is about Missoula, but they are not alone and it may be the norm for most Universities. The rapes are sickening, but even more gut wrenching is how the victims are treated, when they try to get help and get this stopped. The response of the football fans, is unacceptable. People who don't know the victim or the football player, automatically blame the victim. The fans hate the victims for messing up their football team. It is no wonder most rapes don't get reported. No matter what happens to the football players, these victims will serve a life sentence.

Krakauer took on the Mormons in UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN. He took on the military in WHERE MEN WIN GLORY: THE ODYSSEY OF PAT TILLMAN. He took on charities in THREE CUPS OF DECEIT. You can watch the feel good, get good ratings, stories on the news or you can pick up the latest Krakauer book and find out what is really going on in this world.

He also took on Mt. Everest in INTO THIN AIR and it is one hell of an adventure story.

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