The Hunting Accident
A True Story of Crime and Poetry
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
The amazing true story of Matt Rizzo, an uneducated blind criminal who received a classical education in prison from his cellmate, Nathan Leopold Jr., of the infamous Leopold and Loeb duo.
It was a hunting accident—that much Charlie is sure of. That's how his father, Matt Rizzo—a gentle intellectual who writes epic poems in Braille—had lost his vision. It’s not until Charlie’s troubled teenage years, when he’s facing time for his petty crimes, that he learns the truth.
Matt Rizzo was blinded by a shotgun blast to the face—but it was while participating in an armed robbery.
Newly blind and without hope, Matt began his bleak new life at Stateville Prison. But in this unlikely place, Matt's life and very soul were saved by one of America's most notorious killers: Nathan Leopold Jr., of the infamous Leopold and Loeb.
From David L. Carlson and Landis Blair comes the unbelievable true story of a father, a son, and remarkable journey from despair to enlightenment.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The subtitle barely captures the scope of this ambitious debut graphic novel, a mix of biography, history, social commentary, literary analysis, and more. It's a multilayered exploration of the lives of Charlie Rizzo and his father Matt, a blind man with secrets. Charlie's parents separated when he was young, but his mother's death brings him back into his father's life in Chicago. When Charlie becomes involved with petty criminals, Matt begins to reveal his past to his son, and this sweeps through the book like a tsunami of surprises and pure, dark emotion. Matt's story involves a world of gangsters, too, but also jail, the truth of how he was blinded, and an unexpected pivotal person: thrill killer Nathan Leopold Jr., who shared his jail cell. Blair's exceptional pen-and-ink work, which mixes the tangible world with the psychological, brings all the strands together seamlessly and powerfully.
