As of 2009, the US population was made up of approximately 307 million people. According to firearm manufacturers, there are roughly 300 million firearms owned by civilians in the United States as of 2010, and of these, about 100 million are handguns. Seems like a high number, doesn’t it? Consider then, that gun-related homicide rates are as much as 35% higher in the US than in similar countries.
Though statistics will tell you that roughly 67% of all murders recorded in 2008 happened by firearm, the emotional devastation felt by the people left behind is immeasurable, their stories often untold. On December 14, 1992, antiquarian bookseller Gregory Gibson’s son Galen was shot in the doorway of his college library by a fellow student gone berserk. The murderer was sent to prison for life, but for Gibson, the tragedy was just unfolding. There were so many loose ends – anonymous warnings, chances for the school to have stopped the tragedy. After years of frustrated attempts to find peace, Gibson woke one morning to a terrible vision of his own rage and helplessness. He knew he had to do something before he destroyed himself and resolved to discover and document the forces that led to Galen’s death.
Gone Boy is Gregory Gibson’s unflinching memoir of a journey that starts with his 18-year-old son’s murder and ends, like a hardboiled mystery, in a place no one could have predicted. Readers can’t help but ask questions along side Gibson as he examines how Galen’s murderer, a mentally ill student, got his hands on a gun in the first place. Why was it so easy — or was it? Could the school have done more to prevent this senseless murder, and what would have been within a school administration’s rights? How much protection can law enforcement really provide? What more can the justice system do to protect us? Should guns be banned altogether?
We live in a pro-gun culture today, where many still think of the best protection against being shot is being the first to shoot. From the old black and white Westerns of the 20th century to the realistic war video games of today, guns are not only a member of our constitution, they have held a place in the spotlight of popular culture for probably as long as firearms have existed. Though roughly 40% of Americans say they keep guns for hunting and sport, the other 60% own them for security. What does it say about our culture that we think we need deadly weapons to feel safe?
Gone Boy follows Gibson as he visits the gun seller as well as detectives, lawyers, psychiatrists, politicians, and bureaucrats – a cast of characters as vivid as any penned by Raymond Chandler. This new edition from North Atlantic Books features a new foreword from the author, in the bold spirit of a man talking to himself with incredible toughness, a father figuring his way out of grief, and an undiluted rage with American skepticism. Hailed by The New York Times and others for its evocative style, dark humor, and courage in confronting guns, violence, and manhood in America, Gone Boy is an unforgettable memoir about the long, hard path from grief to understanding and closure.
