In My Father's Name: A Family, a Town, a Murder
Author: Mark Arax
List Price: $24.00
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0684808455
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (February, 1996)
Sales Rank: 662,944
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
who needs novels?
I had trouble putting the book down, finished reading it last night. I thought it very well written, including descriptions of his family history and cultural backgound that might otherwise have risked being less than interesting. I was particularly taken by his striving to understand all involved and their acts, and not to judge people too simplistically. P.S. Try searching "arax" and "fresno" on the internet... and how can someone who read the book say that the author did not entertain the idea that his father might have been involved in illicit dealings? From the book one can only reasonably say that he did consider this possibility, actively.
Rating: 5 out of 5
A Tale of Corruption in California's Central Valley
In My Father's Name : A Family, a Town, a Murder is a captivating, truth-based who-done-it. But also much more. It's a scrutinizing look at the ugly goings-on in a town gone wrong where the mafia-like police force and city governors were key corrupters. It's also one man's loving account of the inexplicable loss of his father through murder and the loss of his mother after a long battle with cancer. I felt a sense of loss myself when I finished reading this highly compelling book.
Rating: 5 out of 5
An Amazing Story
When I first started this book, I was amazed at the description that Arax gives of Fresno. Being a life-long resident of Fresno, I can imagine everything he describes. Then I read about the corruption that I'd heard about all my life, and see the proof of it all. I was shocked beyond belief. Then I read about these supposedly upstanding citizens that I've heard about all my life (who has community centers and arena's named after them here in Fresno) and I feel like a veil has been pulled from my eyes.
Mark Arax tells a story of life in a lot of small, and large, cities. The one part of the story I wish would have been included (but it is safer for him NOT to include, being that he is still a resident of Fresno) is not only the corruption of the past, but the corruption of the present as well. He describes how the city of Fresno was built upon corruption, ran in corruption for many years, and hinted to the present day corruption, but had to stop. Hopefully he will write another book about Fresno, and reveal something to everyone.
If you like to read, and you like to be trapped by a book, then I suggest you purchase this book.
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