Terri Jentz is a screenwriter and lives in Los Angeles. Strange Piece of Paradise is her first book.
"Imagine that it had been Truman Capote himself who'd been savaged in Holcomb, Kansas, and that he had survived to describe his ordeal. That is the level of command and sinew at work in [Terri Jentz's] writing." --The New York Times Book Review "Powerful . . . [Jentz] moves with great skill back and forth between the year of the attack and the years of her investigation." --Los Angeles Times Book Review "Strange Piece of Paradise is a breathtaking memoir that deserves enshrinement on the essential books about the American West, worthy of a place beside Norman Mailer's classic account, The Executioner's Song." --Seattle Post-Intelligencer "[Jentz's] well-crafted story of trying to make sense of lunacy is unforgettable." --People "Jentz excels in capturing the aftermath of the attack. . . . [She] is a savvy, big-hearted narrator who refuses to rush to judgment. . . . A singular, breathtaking document of devastation, survival, and hard-won hope." --Newsday "In her spellbinding, heartbreaking tale of one random act of carnage, Jentz shows how evil sometimes doesn't have a face but leaves scars both physical and emotional." --USA Today "This book, a haunting meditation on the attack and Jentz's hunt for her would-be murderer, is like nothing I have ever read. . . . [Strange Piece of Paradise] packs the power of a story that has simmered for twenty years. Jentz's intelligence and felicity with language amp up that power; her detective work delivers real thrills. . . . Gratifying." --The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) "The pacing and subject matter will keep readers mesmerized throughout. . . . An extraordinary story from a gifted writer." --Library Journal "[Strange Piece of Paradise] will do more than just captivate us--it will also politicize us, change us, and move us to action." --Chicago Tribune
The author was a Yale student biking cross-country during the summer of 1977 when she and her roommate were attacked by an axe-wielding cowboy while camping in Oregon. Jentz suffered multiple injures including a gashed arm and collapsed lung, while her friend was nearly blinded from head injuries. Fifteen years later, in 1992, Jentz returns to the scene of the attack to repair the psychic wound and attempt to close the case. Dogged in her pursuit of the truth (though largely abandoning the subtitle's promise of introspection), Jentz interviews the witnesses who saw her stumble out of Cline Falls State Park that June night; she scrutinizes police files and discovers the halfhearted investigation of suspects, learning about several horrific killings that took place in Oregon then. Jentz even befriends the former girlfriends of one suspect who becomes frighteningly plausible as the culprit. She finally tracks down the local cowboy known for carving his initials into his axe handle; though he can no longer be prosecuted for the attack, the satisfaction of seeing him convicted for another offense is a bittersweet vindication. While a thorough, forthright detective, screenwriter Jentz tends to meander and includes unnecessary detail. Still, her story is chilling and will enthrall true crime readers. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
"Imagine that it had been Truman Capote himself who'd been savaged in Holcomb, Kansas, and that he had survived to describe his ordeal. That is the level of command and sinew at work in [Terri Jentz's] writing." --The New York Times Book Review "Powerful . . . [Jentz] moves with great skill back and forth between the year of the attack and the years of her investigation." --Los Angeles Times Book Review "Strange Piece of Paradise is a breathtaking memoir that deserves enshrinement on the essential books about the American West, worthy of a place beside Norman Mailer's classic account, The Executioner's Song." --Seattle Post-Intelligencer "[Jentz's] well-crafted story of trying to make sense of lunacy is unforgettable." --People "Jentz excels in capturing the aftermath of the attack. . . . [She] is a savvy, big-hearted narrator who refuses to rush to judgment. . . . A singular, breathtaking document of devastation, survival, and hard-won hope." --Newsday "In her spellbinding, heartbreaking tale of one random act of carnage, Jentz shows how evil sometimes doesn't have a face but leaves scars both physical and emotional." --USA Today "This book, a haunting meditation on the attack and Jentz's hunt for her would-be murderer, is like nothing I have ever read. . . . [Strange Piece of Paradise] packs the power of a story that has simmered for twenty years. Jentz's intelligence and felicity with language amp up that power; her detective work delivers real thrills. . . . Gratifying." --The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) "The pacing and subject matter will keep readers mesmerized throughout. . . . An extraordinary story from a gifted writer." --Library Journal "[Strange Piece of Paradise] will do more than just captivate us--it will also politicize us, change us, and move us to action." --Chicago Tribune
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