Revenge : A Story of Hope

by Laura Blumenfeld

• ISBN13: 9780684853161
• ISBN10: 0684853167
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-03-26
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

In 1986, Laura Blumenfeld's father was shot in Jerusalem by a member of a rebel faction of the PLO responsible for attacks on several tourists in the Old City. Her father lived, but Blumenfeld's desire for revenge haunted her. This is her story. Traveling to Europe, America, and the Middle East, Blumenfeld gathers stories and methods of avengers worldwide as she plots to infiltrate the shooter's life. Through interviews with Yitzhak Rabin's assassin; with members of the Albanian Blood Feud Committee; the chief of the Iranian judiciary; the mayor of Palermo, Sicily; an Egyptian heroin smuggler; the Israeli prime minister and the military chief of staff; priests; sports fans; fifth-grade girls; and prostitutes, among others, she explores the mechanics and the psychology of vengeance. But ultimately it is a journey that leads her back home -- where she is forced to confront her childhood dreams, her parents' failed marriage, and her ideas about family. In the end, her target turns out to be more complex -- and in some ways more threatening -- than the stereotypical terrorist she'd long imagined. A rare, ambitious, personal, and intellectual tour of dark urges often denied, Revenge: A Story of Hope is a beautifully written story about family, loyalty, and home, about the personal passions behind public events, and about the thin line between love and hate.

Author Biography

Laura Blumenfeld holds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University and has been a staff writer at The Washington Post since 1992. She has also written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Elle, and the Los Angeles Times. She currently lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Heat	9	(7)
Shame	16	(18)
Memory	34	(31)
The Rules	65	(34)
Predator and Prey	99	(42)
Collective Punishment	141	(45)
Divine Vengeance	186	(28)
Simple Justice	214	(42)
Interpretation	256	(34)
Acknowledgment	290	(49)
Transformation	339	(26)
Ever After	365	(7)
Acknowledgments	372	(3)
Index	375