About the Book

Hillman Prize Nominee

Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Nominee

In a literary tour de force, prize-winning author Dan Barry chronicles the lives of 32 mentally disabled men who labored for decades in a turkey-processing plant in small-town Iowa, and the extraordinary advocates who worked tirelessly to free them.

“I am excited to explore themes of human dignity and respect for creation in this year’s All Bonaventure Reads selection. When discussing themes of social justice, the topic of ability is often forgotten. The Boys in the Bunkhouse reminds us of significant shortfalls in attaining equitable treatment of persons with disabilities.” —Chris Brown, director of St. Bonaventure University’s First-Year Experience (FYE) program

Freshman Common Read: St. Bonaventure University

Critical Praise

“Gently, emphatically, and indelibly, Barry conveys a tale of unthinkable brutality. — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Barry’s book can’t right all those wrongs, but it at least documents them eloquently, and in a more permanent way.” — Kansas City Star

“An extraordinary contribution to the literature of social injustice. . . . The Boys in the Bunkhouse surely will emerge as one of the landmark books of the year.” — Providence Journal

“The Boys in the Bunkhouse is not just a book about the victims but also a book that turns those victims into real men. Dan Barry has written them into history, as only a journalist could.” — Newsweek

“An important story about the horrors of slavery and exploitation that can happen to vulnerable people anywhere.” — The Atlantic

“Disturbing yet beautifully told...” — America Magazine

The story of these men gets the full telling it deserves in Dan Barry’s powerful, moving, and at times heartbreaking book, The Boys in the Bunkhouse.” — Commonweal Magazine

“Dan Barry gives dignity even to the darkest corners of the American experience. He is the closest thing we have to a contemporary Steinbeck.” — Colum McCann, author of the National Book Award-winning Let the Great World Spin

“Dan Barry represents the magic that is possible in journalism when there is a convergence between a great story and great talent.” — Gay Talese

“Hard-hitting journalism shot through with flourishes of the best literary nonfiction. . . . The Boys in the Bunkhouse is, ultimately, a hopeful story of the power of a few dogged individuals to make change.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“As an exposé of a moral catastrophe, this is a vital piece of reportage.” — New York Times Book Review

Praise for Bottom of the 33rd:
“What a book—an exquisite exercise in story-telling, democracy and myth-making that has, at its center, a great respect for the symphony of voices that make up America.” — Colum McCann

“A fascinating, beautifully told story... In the hands of Barry, a national correspondent for the New York Times, this marathon of duty, loyalty, misery and folly becomes a riveting narrative...The book feels like ‘Our Town’ on the diamond.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“An astonishing tale that lyrically articulates baseball?s inexorable grip on its players and fans, Bottom of the 33rd belongs among the best baseball books ever written.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer

“[Dan] Barry does more than simply recount the inning-by-inning-by-inning box score. He delves beneath the surface, like an archaeologist piecing together the shards and fragments of a forgotten society, to reconstruct a time and a night that have become part of baseball lore.” — Associated Press

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Product Details

• ISBN: 9780062372147
• ISBN 10: 0062372149
• Imprint: Harper Perennial
• On Sale: 05/02/2017
• Trimsize: 5.310 in (w) x 8.000 in (h) x 0.790 in (d)
• Pages: 352
• List Price: $16.99
• BISAC1 : HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI)
• BISAC2 : HISTORY / Social History
• BISAC3 : MEDICAL / Geriatrics
• BISAC4 : MEDICAL / Pediatrics
• BISAC5 : MEDICAL / Essays
• BISAC6 : SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social
• BISAC7 : SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General
• BISAC8 : SOCIAL SCIENCE / People with Disabilities
• BISAC9 : SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sexual Abuse & Harassment