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29th out of 100 books
—
2 voters
I Am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility
by
Trisha Meili
Shortly after 9:00 P.M. on April 19, 1989, a young woman jogs alone near 102nd Street in New York City's Central Park. She is attacked, raped, savagely beaten, and left for dead. Hours later she arrives at the emergency room -- comatose -- with a fractured skull, an 85-degree body temperature, and she has lost so much blood that her doctors believe it's a miracle she's sti...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
March 30th 2004
by Scribner
(first published 2003)
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Trisha Meili is called the Central Park Jogger. She was attacked, raped, sodomized, savagely beaten and dumped for dead in a ravine in Central Park on April 19, 1989. She was 29 years old, a fast rising career woman in Wall Street. During her trial, the New Yorkers as well as the whole nation, awaited and followed her stories normally found on the front page of New York Times with simply “JOGGER” as the header every time something juicy about her and the case had happened.
Incidents like this hap...more
Incidents like this hap...more
I cannot get behind this at all. No one is denying that what happened to this woman was wrong, and that she went through an ordeal. It is always a good and inspiring thing when one is able to rise above such circumstances. But those five teenage boys went through an ordeal as well, one that cost them their innocence, their childhoods, their standing in society. Their lives were destroyed as well, and the worst part is that people still refuse to apologize, offer sympathy to them and their famil...more
I Am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility by Trisha Meili (Scribner 2003) (Biography) is the autobiography of one of the most famous crime victims of all time - and one of the oddest criminal cases of all time as well. In 1989 a young woman was attacked, raped, beaten, and left for dead in New York City's Central Park. Five young men aged fourteen to sixteen were interrogated by the police and confessed to the crime, much to the relief of the city's populace. However, the boy...more
Trisha Meili, the woman who was attacked and raped in Central Park in April 1989, wrote this book in 2003, making her name well known for the first time. Her motive was to talk about the process of recovering from a head injury so severe she was not expected to live or to be able to function well cognitively or physically again.
She defied the odds and with a tremendous amount of work she recovered sufficiently to go back to her job at Salomon Brothers and to be able again to go running, though n...more
She defied the odds and with a tremendous amount of work she recovered sufficiently to go back to her job at Salomon Brothers and to be able again to go running, though n...more
Trisha Meili is a truly amazing and inspirational person. I saw her speak at a brain injury association conference last year. I was fascinated by her story and I purchased the book to use for group therapy sessions I sometimes run for brain injured adults. But frankly, I can't use most of Tricia's book. There is very little in her book that most of my clients can relate to.
In the 17 years I've been working with people who have brain injuries, I have not encountered anyone with such a positive a...more
In the 17 years I've been working with people who have brain injuries, I have not encountered anyone with such a positive a...more
This book was less the story of the Central Park Jogger and more the story of Trisha Meili's recovery as the Central Park Jogger.
I got this book a while back to find out more about the Central Park Jogger, and I enjoyed hearing Meili's perspective as a survivor who remembers generally nothing about her attack. This first-person account of her healing process (something which continues to be in progress) focused on her emotional and physical recovery, and lays a narrative timeline for how she li...more
I got this book a while back to find out more about the Central Park Jogger, and I enjoyed hearing Meili's perspective as a survivor who remembers generally nothing about her attack. This first-person account of her healing process (something which continues to be in progress) focused on her emotional and physical recovery, and lays a narrative timeline for how she li...more
I am listening to this on audio. Let me warn those who do listen to it on audio that when the music plays on the CD it does not mean change the CD. I thought that's what the music meant so I changed the CD and then at CD 5 I was left hanging, wondering where the ending was. So now I'm back to disc 3 listening to much that I missed.
I was a teen when Trisha Meili was attacked in Central Park, and lived in Canada, but even so I do remember this event. I didn't know specific details, however. I'm en...more
I was a teen when Trisha Meili was attacked in Central Park, and lived in Canada, but even so I do remember this event. I didn't know specific details, however. I'm en...more
I read a synopsis in the Boston Globe of a recently published book- The Central Park Five and knew that I had Trisha Meili's book on my bookshelf unread. A very interesting read and amazing recovery story. While the truth of the story lies in the fact that the author has no recollection of her brutal attack, the legal ramifications of the five accused "wilders" make this story even more compelling. I am now intrigued to read this new book by Sarah Burns, daughter of the filmmaker Ken Burns, abou...more
Trisha Meili was and is a very smart, successful, driven person. It was very interesting to read about who she was before the attack, why she was jogging in Central Park at night and how she healed. Its a short book, easy read. The reason I gave it a 2 is that it was poorly written and could have been so much better. I understand the author had a brain injury who went through hell but I'm just saying I think it would have been much better if someone had written it for her in the 3rd person.
What happened to Ms. Meili was highly unfortunate and is a reflection of the dark world we live in. However, although her prose is simple yet well put, but her story itself is amazing. Her rise from the ashes like a phoenix after the attack and her constant endeavor to better herself and maintain a positive outlook is commendable. The book not only talks and teaches one about how one should respond to contingencies in life but it also reflects how we humans, being social characters need the love...more
I am the Central Park Jogger – Trisha Meili
“Trish provides an unexpected insight into her harrowing experience as the infamous Central Park jogger. Her bravery, patience, and determination to survive reveal a truly remarkable woman. Pages turn quickly as her readers follow her gripping ordeal and road to recovery.”
Dorothy Dubel, Author
Escaping Danger
“Trish provides an unexpected insight into her harrowing experience as the infamous Central Park jogger. Her bravery, patience, and determination to survive reveal a truly remarkable woman. Pages turn quickly as her readers follow her gripping ordeal and road to recovery.”
Dorothy Dubel, Author
Escaping Danger
This book had much more to do with the resiliance of the human spirit than it had to do with the event. I was too young to remember the Central Park Jogger incident but I can understand how it gripped the nation. This was such a horrible act and unbelieveable how people on this earth have no understanding of the value of a human life. But, past the actual event this book was more about Trisha rebuilding her life and regaining herself again. Essentially she had to learn how to live again from the...more
interesting story of a woman who is known to the world as "the central park jogger" and her decision to become something more, to reclaim her identity as a person other than the moniker.
there is no doubt that trisha is an extremely dedicated and hard-working soul. her persevering strength gave her the courage and resources needed to survive such an attack.
but nothing really struck me as memorable, except, that when she said near the end that there was someone she respected that she got the cou...more
there is no doubt that trisha is an extremely dedicated and hard-working soul. her persevering strength gave her the courage and resources needed to survive such an attack.
but nothing really struck me as memorable, except, that when she said near the end that there was someone she respected that she got the cou...more
While Meili's story is fascinating, it's not the best written. The story drags on a bit, but it is a really intensely emotional story (which is why it was hard for me to be critical abt her story, but it's not that engaging). The way she was attacked..horrifying - but a miracle she recovered.
I bought this book because this was big news when it happened in NYC. I was 19 at the time. Reading it as a speech-language pathologist who has worked with traumatically brain-injured patients, it was an eye-opener about how to treat patients.
I was really anxious to read this book. About 1/4 of the way through, it started talking about Christianity.
I'm Catholic, I have no problem with it ~ except, I thought it was going to be about her attack and the trial, etc.
I'm Catholic, I have no problem with it ~ except, I thought it was going to be about her attack and the trial, etc.
Became interested in reading this after hearing of the book while speaking to a Brain Injury group.
Fabulous book. It was like reliving my rehab struggles again.
A certain spot where she talked about finally having a bit of balance and the joy of being able to shave her legs. I completely know that....In rehab I decided to do the same thing. Chad came in a went into a panic seeing me trying to catch my balance, shave my legs and keep from passing out at the same time. And the simple joy that ca...more
Fabulous book. It was like reliving my rehab struggles again.
A certain spot where she talked about finally having a bit of balance and the joy of being able to shave her legs. I completely know that....In rehab I decided to do the same thing. Chad came in a went into a panic seeing me trying to catch my balance, shave my legs and keep from passing out at the same time. And the simple joy that ca...more
Read this a while ago. What stuck with me though was the sheer resillience of the human spirit. How this woman struggled to recover from her injuries, put her life back together and carry on.
Inspirational.
Inspirational.
I enjoyed this, though I guess I was hoping for something a little more detailed and cohesive. The timeline jumps around a little, which was a bit confusing. Still - interesting and it makes me want to read more in depth on the subject.
Jun 29, 2012
Marie
added it
An amazing story, partly because I met this woman the day before I read the book, and partly because I have second-hand knowledge of what living with Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD are like. Read it in one day.
I bought the book after listening to the author speak about her life since the day she was brutally attacked. It's a remarkable story of hope, faith, determination, and will power. What a strong woman!
I remember the horror of this event when it happened back in 1989. It was natioanl news, a young woman out for a run through Central Park in New York gets attacked by a gang and raped, beaten, and left for dead, but miraculously, she survives. This is her story of recovery and healing. What an ordeal this woman has been through! Her own words of relearning to talk, walk, and live a normal life after being in a coma for five weeks and suffering not just physical injury, but brain damage as well....more
This book was really interesting to read and made me appreciate and enjoy how our medical world and staff contributed to healing this young girl through a major brain injury. An amazing story!
Her story is amazing, but I was not inspired by this book. The story is straight-forward and upbeat. I did not learn anything from reading this book. It was an easy, enjoyable read.
what a wonderful story of courage and inspiration. Made me lucky that i was recovering from knee surgery and not the traumatic event that happened to the author. loved it
Having survived a similar experience and this book brought me hope. I did not have the support system like Trisha had but I had God's! We can ALL endure in His unfailing love!!!
Listened to audio book. I liked the clarity of her thought processes and marvel at her courage - not to survive, but to move forward while staying in the present.
I've always been frightened by this story. It keeps me running in gyms on treadmills. I'm a bit of a scaredy cat. It wasn't nearly as gruesome as I feared and had some interesting TBI stuff in it, but no PTSD.
Another amazing human being. What a hero , what a horrible thing to go through. Such courage, if you have a down part of your life, read this and it will make you feel small compared to what she went through.
Wow. She has guts. Makes you think about life...Where are you going, who do you want to be, why are you here?
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Apr 14, 2011 09:27am
Apr 14, 2011 05:26pm