Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb

Summary

It was a crime that captured national attention. In the idyllic suburb of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, four of the town's most popular high school athletes were accused of raping a retarded young woman while nine of their teammates watched. What went wrong in this seemingly flawless American town? In search of the answer, Bernard Lefkowitz takes the listener behind Glen Ridge's manicured façade into the shadowy basement that was the scene of the rape, into the mansions on "Millionaire's Row," into the All-American high school, and finally into the courtroom where justice itself was on trial.

Lefkowitz's sweeping narrative, informed by more than 200 interviews and six years of research, recreates a murky adolescent world that parents didn't—or wouldn't—see: a high school dominated by a band of predatory athletes; a teenage culture where girls were frequently abused and humiliated at sybaritic and destructive parties; and a town that continued to embrace its celebrity athletes—despite the havoc they created—as "our guys." The clash of cultures and values that divided Glen Ridge, Lefkowitz writes, still divides the country.

Contains mature themes.