Run, Brother, Run

 Book 45 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

Run, Brother, Run: A Memoir of a Murder in My Family

by David Berg

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2013

As William Faulkner said, "The past is not dead, it's not even past." This observation seems especially true in matters of family, when the fury between generations is often never resolved and instead secretly carried, a wound that cannot heal. For David Berg, this is truer than for most, and once you read the story of his family, you will understand why he held it privately for son long and why the betrayals between parent and child can be the most wrenching of all.

In 1968 David Berg's brother, Alan, was murdered by Charles Harrelson, a notorious hit man and father of actor Woody Harrelson. Alan was only thirty-one when he disappeared; six months later his remains were found in a ditch in Texas.

Run, Brother, Run is Berg's story of the murder. But is is also the account of the psychic destruction of the Berg family by the author's father, who allowed a grievous blunder at the age of twenty-three to define his life. The event changed the fate of a clan and fell most heavily on Alan, the firstborn son, who tried to both redeem and escape his father yet could not.

This achingly painful family history is also a portrait of an iconic American place, playing out in the shady bars of Houston, in small-town law offices and courtrooms, and in remote ranch lands where bad things happen - a true-crime murder drama, all perfectly calibrated. Writing with cold-eyed grief and a wild, lacerating humor, Berg tells us first about the striving Jewish family that created Alan Berg and set him on a course for self-destruction and then about the gross miscarriage of justice that followed.

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

This book has been on my Goodreads 'to-read' list since 2013 and I'm reading it now because it came up through random selection and my library had a copy.  Based on the description, I can see why I was interested back then and it is still something I would've picked up today while browsing.

I don't knock the book for this but I do note when reading memoirs/biographies that there are no pictures included (other than the cover photo which I assume is of the author and his brother).

My Opinion

3 stars

I'm sure part of why I feel so blah after finishing it is because it's hard to read about all the unfairness in the courts, especially in the "good ole boy" times (I have to hope it's better now with the technology and not solely relying on circumstantial evidence).  I do think it's interesting that he's profited from it (admittedly getting clients off which is his job) yet judged this defense attorney so heavily...I'm not defending the defense attorney by any means but it is something I noted.  It was also interesting to read how he would've tried the case.

The author has a natural storytelling and rhythm.  He gives details but doesn't over-explain and  trusts the reader to understand the times and doesn't make excuses or pass judgement.  What's funny is that after reading the acknowledgments, maybe I should give more credit to the editors than the author about that; he said his first draft was over 100 pages longer than the final product! 

Quote from the Book

"Alan's suffering was done, but not that of those who loved him: we were collateral damage."