''The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed'' is a 2009

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fiction ...

about the life of

Matthew Shepard Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Pou ...

, written by his mother,

Judy Shepard Judy Shepard (née Peck; born August 15, 1952) is the mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming who was murdered in October 1998 in what became one of the most high-profiled cases highlighting hate-crimes against ...

. The book was published by

Hudson Street Press Avery Publishing is a book publishing imprint of the Penguin Group, founded as an independent publisher in 1976 by Rudy Shur and partners, and purchased by Penguin in 1999. The current president is veteran publisher William Shinker. Their offices ...

on September 3, 2009 and was featured as a

New York Times best-seller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

for the week of September 27, 2009.

Critical reception

In a review for ''

The Houston Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'', Elizabeth Kennedy commented on the imagery and specific details of the memories put forth by Judy Shepard, stating that the book was a "unalloyed memoir of remarkable clarity and restraint", adding that, "As plainspoken and unassuming as this memoir is, the scenes from the life interrupted are indelible". Aly Semigran for ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' gave the memoir an "A" rating, noting that, "Shepard writes with unwavering honesty, devoting the right amount of time to each part of her story." Kathi Isserman, writing for '' Curve Magazine'' said that the memoir was "raw, honest and real, with some surprising new details never before published". In another later review for ''Curve Magazine'', Isserman added that Shepard doesn't "sugarcoat her son's life in this starkly honest memoir" and that "the reader also learns much about Matthew's imperfect life as a son, brother and young man".

References

External links

Presentation by Shepard on ''The Meaning of Matthew'', September 26, 2009

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Interview with Shepard on ''The Meaning of Matthew'', October 3, 2009

Call-in segment with Shepard on ''The Meaning of Matthew'', October 3, 2009

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meaning of Matthew 2009 American novels American biographies Works about Matthew Shepard Books about Wyoming