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The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 5 reviews on
narrative of injustice, exoneration, and the lifelong impact of incarceration, Beyond
Innocence is the poignant saga of one remarkable life that sheds
vitally important light on the failures of the American justice system at every
levelIn June 1985, a young Black man in Winston-Salem, N.C.
named Darryl Hunt was falsely convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the
rape and murder of a white copyeditor at the local paper. Many in the community
believed him innocent and crusaded for his release even as subsequent trials
and appeals reinforced his sentence. Finally, in 2003, the tireless efforts of
his attorney combined with an award-winning series of articles by Phoebe
Zerwick in the Winston-Salem Journal led to the DNA evidence
that exonerated Hunt. Three years later, the acclaimed documentary, The
Trials of Darryl Hunt, made him known across the country and brought
his story to audiences around the world.But Hunt's story was far from
over. As Zerwick poignantly reveals, it is singularly significant in the annals
of the miscarriage of justice and for the legacy Hunt ultimately bequeathed.
Part true crime drama, part chronicle of a life cut short by systemic racism, Beyond
Innocence powerfully illuminates the sustained catastrophe faced by
an innocent person in prison and the civil death nearly everyone who has been
incarcerated experiences attempting to restart their lives. Freed after
nineteen years behind bars, Darryl Hunt became a national advocate for social
justice, and his case inspired lasting reforms, among them a law that allows
those on death row to appeal their sentence with evidence of racial bias. He
was a beacon of hope for so many--until he could no longer bear the burden of
what he had endured and took his own life.Fluidly crafted by a master
journalist, Beyond Innocence makes an urgent moral call for
an American reckoning with the legacies of racism in the criminal justice
system and the human toll of the carceral state.
Book Details
- Publisher: Grove Press
- Publish Date: Mar 14th, 2023
- Pages: 352
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 8.20in - 5.50in - 1.00in - 0.70lb
- EAN: 9780802159380
- Categories: • Discrimination• Cultural & Ethnic Studies - American - African American & Bl• Race & Ethnic Relations
More books to explore
About the Author
What people are saying
Mark Anthony Neal is an author and professor of African American studies.
'To commemorate #DarrylHunt's death 6 years ago, @TheTakeaway takes a long look at the grave injustices in his wrongful conviction with award-winning investigative journalist @PhoebeZerwick, author of Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt.' https://t.co/sbymhRAKRO
"I have written more than 2,500 summaries of wrongful convictions in the past decade. Hunt’s story is one of courage and tragedy. The book is a haunting portrayal of the criminal justice system and its impact on the innocent."
News and information from Wake Forest University Office of Communications and External Relations.
#WFU journalism professor Phoebe Zerwick (@PhoebeZerwick), discusses her book, “Beyond Innocence” – the saga of one remarkable life that sheds light on the failures of the American justice system. https://t.co/pJQX53hNYP
Critics’ reviews
Praise for this book
Praise for Beyond
Innocence:
A Finalist for the Southern Book Prize and the William Saroyan International Prize
"The story ofhow what seemed like Darryl Hunt's happy ending turned out to be a chapter, not
an ending, and a testament to how profoundly post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) can affect prisoners for years after they are released. In a larger and
more important sense, it is another reminder of how the United States'
prison-industrial complex has ruined so many men in so many ways, especially
Black men . . . Zerwick's research is exemplary, and the story is a strong
one."--Phil Kloer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution"A
painstaking reexamination of a miscarriage of justice and the devastating
aftermath . . . Zerwick uses sharp prose alongside Hunt's urgent journals to
convey his thoughts and establish context . . . This moving, powerful book
should lead to deeper research in that area. An engaging, heartbreaking read
that cautions society and the justice system to handle exonerees with greater
care."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"Journalist
Zerwick debuts with a moving account of a North Carolina man's wrongful
conviction and incarceration, eventual exoneration, and lingering postprison
trauma . . . Richly detailed and lucidly written, this is a harrowing story of
racial injustice and the lingering traumas of wrongful
imprisonment."--Publishers
Weekly"Zerwick tracks Hunt's life as an
exoneree and dedicated activist, whose advocacy helped lead to substantive
reform for death row inmates until the burden of his trauma led tragically to
his taking his own life. Zerwick's portrait of Hunt humanizes all who are
incarcerated, opening out into a well-researched, frustrating, inspirational,
and heartbreaking look at profound issues of equality and justice and how
racism and injustice destroy lives."--Booklist"The
book's reconstruction of Hunt's last days is a powerful reminder of
incarceration's effects on the large numbers of Black Americans who have spent
time behind bars. Zerwick's portrait of Hunt is a reminder of the trauma caused
by the American justice system and offers an essential narrative of the lasting
impacts of incarceration."--Library
Journal
"Beyond
Innocence is a powerful story that underscores the many injustices in
our judicial system and the huge challenge all ex-prisoners face regaining
their lives."--Albert Woodfox, author of Solitary
Zerwick's Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt
exerts a grip on the reader equal to any true crime nonfiction, but it speaks
far beyond that. I knew Darryl Hunt and many in these pages who championed his
cause and his causes. I saw Darryl regularly for ten of the 32 years covered by
this amazing book. I celebrated his freedom from 19 years of unjust
incarceration, his nobility of soul, and his achievements for criminal justice
reform. I wept in 2016 when I heard what I believed to be his full sorrow. But
Zerwick's masterful detective work, relentless research, brilliant
storytelling, and, more than that, her insights into the dark night and fragile
light of the human heart illuminate not only the essential facts but the
deepest truths of this profound tragedy. Beyond Innocenceis
anything but gooey polemic. But sometimes a single human story cracks open our
once familiar worlds in ways that we cannot forget, and compels us either to
admit that vicious, intentional injustice speaks for us, or to speak for
ourselves in a call to higher ground. This story is an opportunity to rethink
our lives that we cannot afford to ignore."--Timothy B. Tyson,
bestselling author of The Blood of Emmett
Till and Blood Done Sign My Name
"In
Beyond Innocence, Phoebe Zerwick provides a gripping account
of the life and death of Darryl Hunt, and in the process explains how the
trauma endured by those wrongfully convicted is fundamentally at odds with a
happily-ever-after ending. Zerwick's unflinching, intimate portrait of Hunt,
exonerated but never truly free, leaves the reader with a story that is far
more complicated and thought-provoking. This book will stay with
you."--Lara Bazelon, author of Rectify: The
Power of Restorative Justice After Wrongful Conviction and professor,
University of San Francisco School of Law
"Beyond
Innocence is beautifully written and also shocking and disturbing.
Phoebe Zerwick has crafted a moving story of one man's lifelong fight against
racial injustice. She has also produced a lacerating indictment of a deeply
flawed American justice system that systematically targets young black
men."--David Zucchino, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Wilmington's
Lie
What people are saying
Mark Anthony Neal is an author and professor of African American studies.
'To commemorate #DarrylHunt's death 6 years ago, @TheTakeaway takes a long look at the grave injustices in his wrongful conviction with award-winning investigative journalist @PhoebeZerwick, author of Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt.' https://t.co/sbymhRAKRO
"I have written more than 2,500 summaries of wrongful convictions in the past decade. Hunt’s story is one of courage and tragedy. The book is a haunting portrayal of the criminal justice system and its impact on the innocent."