Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Catch and Kill

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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This is a great book.  Farrow takes what could be–what is, in fact–a very tricky story with lies, leads, traps, double-crosses, big reputations and big egos, and makes it enjoyable to read, for 400 pages…well, enjoyable except that you’re reading about truly despicable and gross people, and their whole gross conspiracy of predators and enablers. If you live in society, you’ve heard about Harvey Weinstein.  This book documents Ronan Farrow’s pursuit of the Weinstein story, and his refusal to give up.  He was disheartened but […]

Slow Burn

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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Best for: Anyone who enjoys quality journalism, excellent writing, and people in power starting to be held accountable. In a nutshell: Journalist Farrow starts investigating Harvey Weinstein and uncovers not just confirmation of his predation, but the people in power who repeatedly covered up his crimes — and the crimes of others. Worth quoting: “Later, employee after employee would tell me the human resources office at the company was a sham, a place where complaints went to die.” Why I chose it: Given all that […]

“Ultimately, the reason Harvey Weinstein followed the route he did is because he was allowed to, and that’s our fault. As a culture that’s our fault.”

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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There is something particularly powerful about reading someone’s accounting of their dogged pursual of truth, of what is right, of what matters and we are treated to just that in Catch and Kill. In his second book Ronan Farrow reckons with the institutional powers and societal inequities that create the sort of stories he’s worked on reporting for the past few years at The New Yorker. Part memoir, part investigative report, Catch and Kill is an imminently fast read, jumping from one unbelievable if it […]

“In the end, the courage of women can’t be stamped out. And stories – the big ones, the true ones – can be caught but never killed.”

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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In October 2017, The New Yorker magazine published an article by Ronan Farrow detailing the abuse of power of Harvey Weinstein, a major Hollywood producer. Rumours of Weinstein’s behaviour had circulated for years (I’m pretty sure I was aware of it in the early 2000’s, if not before. This just from paying attention to nods in magazines. I may not have known any details, but I knew he could make or break a career). Other journalists had tried and failed to get the story out. […]

“Stories – the big ones, the true ones – can be caught but never killed.”

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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I had hoped to finish Catch and Kill right after She Said, in order to compare the two in a review. Unfortunately, the library hold list did not make that doable. But it’s hard not to compare the two. For what it’s worth, I think She Said was the better book, but a lot of that may have been due to my issues with how Farrow told his story… “I think that it doesn’t matter if you’re a well-known actress, it doesn’t matter if you’re […]

Reads Like a Thriller

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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I knew going into it that I would enjoy Catch and Kill, because it’s a genre I enjoy, it’s a writer I like, and a topic I was interested in. I just wasn’t sure how much I really needed to read it, considering I’d just finished She Said a month or two earlier and they’re about the same thing. My takeaway is that these are two great books, on the same topic, that read in completely different ways. I’m glad I read both of them. […]



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