The Girls, Abigail Pesta
The Girls, Abigail Pesta
3 Rating(s)
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

The Girls
An All-American Town, a Predatory Doctor, and the Untold Story of the Gymnasts Who Brought Him Down

Author: Abigail Pesta

Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers

Unabridged: 8 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Seal Press

Published: 08/06/2019


Synopsis

In this news-breaking narrative, decades of women who brought down sexual predator Larry Nassar offer groundbreaking new insight, with the first known survivor and many others sharing their stories exclusively for the first time.

We think of Larry Nassar as the despicable sexual predator of Olympic gymnasts -- but there is an astonishing, untold story. For decades, in a small-town gym in Michigan, he honed his manipulations on generations of aspiring gymnasts. Kids from the neighborhood. Girls with hopes of a college scholarship. Athletes and parents with a dream. In The Girls, these brave women for the first time describe Nassar's increasingly bold predations through the years, recount their warning calls unheeded, and demonstrate their resiliency in the face of a nightmare.

The Girls is a profound exploration of trust, ambition, betrayal, and self-discovery. Award-winning journalist Abigail Pesta unveils this deeply reported narrative at a time when the nation is wrestling with the implications of the MeToo movement. How do the women who grew up with Nassar reconcile the monster in the news with the man they once trusted? In The Girls, we learn that their answers to that wrenching question are as rich, insightful, and varied as the human experience itself.


About Abigail Pesta

Abigail Pesta is an award-winning journalist who has lived and worked around the world, from New York to London to Hong Kong. Her investigative and feature reporting has appeared in global publications, including Cosmopolitan, the New York Times, Marie Claire, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Glamour, the Atlantic, New York magazine, and many others.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Scott

One of the main benefits (solely for rapists and sexual abusers of any stripe) of living in a rape culture is the phenomenon which enables abusers to convince their victims that what is being perpetrated upon their person is not a crime or abuse but is, in fact, beneficial to them in some way. It he......more

Goodreads review by Keri

I don’t know where to start - - having grown up in this area of the country, it could have easily been me. I can attest to how safe I felt growing up in the Lansing area. I spent undergrad and law school years at MSU. And to not know this was going on gives me the absolute chills. I went to high sch......more

Goodreads review by Maureen

Abigail Pesta worked with these girls and women to give them a voice, and they placed their full trust in her. The stories follow the experiences of survivors through many years, helping the reader to understand the complexities of abuse and the many different routes to recovery. The stories also re......more


Quotes

"This may be the most important sports title of the year."—Library Journal (starred review)

"Abigail Pesta's new book lends an essential platform to the voices of the brave women who brought down predator Larry Nassar. We must continue to listen to these women and their stories. Now, we can do just that, thanks to Ms. Pesta's excellent reporting."—Gloria Steinem

"Pesta's empathy for these girls and women is palpable, and powerful. ... The book has the effect of a chorus of righteous anger."—Los Angeles Times

"This is a courageous, courageous book. ... The Girls is probably the most thorough account of this case."—Dr. Phil

"Journalist Abigail Pesta reveals a shocking and ultimately inspiring chronicle of what Nassar's survivors endured, and how a decades-long fight to be heard was finally won."—Salon

"In the #MeToo era, The Girls is a powerful addition to the nationwide conversations and reckonings happening around sexual abuse, harassment, and violence."—Ms. Magazine

"Pesta's compassionate in-depth reporting is startling in its entirety and candor and should be read by coaches, counselors, therapists, law enforcement officers, sports writers, parents of young athletes and athletes, university officials and especially university presidents.... Her writing is straightforward and compelling without straying into sensationalism."—Lansing City Pulse

"In interviews with 25 survivors -- including the likely first victim and the last -- journalist Abigail Pesta documents how [Larry Nassar] honed his manipulation skills to become the most prolific predator in sports history."—Marie Claire

"This book is one that every single person who works in sport should read."—Female Coaching Network

"The damage to these young women has been immeasurable ... but they have reclaimed control of their lives from a predator who is destined to die in prison. The Girls is their story of courage."—New York Journal of Books