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Richard Jewell

And Other Tales of Heroes, Scoundrels, and Renegades

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About The Book

Now a major film from Academy Award–winning director Clint Eastwood—starring Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, and Paul Walter Hauser!

This collection of captivating profiles from Vanity Fair writer Marie Brenner spans her award-winning career and features larger-than-life figures such as Donald Trump, Roy Cohn, Malala Yousafzai, and Richard Jewell—the security guard whose dramatic heroism at the bombing of the 1996 Olympics made him the FBI’s prime suspect.

Previously published as A Private War, Marie Brenner’s Richard Jewell tells a gripping true story of heroism and injustice. In the early morning hours of July 27, 1996, three pipe bombs exploded at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, killing one person and injuring 111 others. Hundreds more potential casualties were prevented by the vigilance and quick actions of security guard Richard Jewell, who uncovered the bombs and began evacuating the area. But no good deed goes unpunished.

Desperate for a lead, investigators and journalists pursued Jewell as a potential suspect in the case, painting him as an obvious match for the infamous “lone bomber” profile. Accused of being a terrorist and a failed law enforcement officer who craved public recognition for his false heroics, he saw his reputation smeared across headlines and broadcasts nationwide. After a months-long investigation found no evidence against him, the US Attorney finally cleared Jewell’s name. Yet Jewell would not be fully exonerated in the eyes of the public until the actual bomber confessed in 2005, just two years before Jewell’s premature death at the age of forty-four.

In Richard Jewell, veteran journalist Marie Brenner brilliantly chronicles Jewell’s ordeal to share the story of an ordinary man whose life was shattered by a false narrative. This collection also includes Brenner’s classic encounters with Donald Trump, Roy Cohn, Malala Yousafzai, Marie Colvin, and others.

About The Author

(c) Robert Mitra

Marie Brenner is the author of seven books and writer at large for Vanity Fair. She has been a staff writer at The New Yorker, a contributing editor at New York, and has won numerous awards for her reporting around the world. Her exposé of the tobacco industry was the basis for the 1999 movie The Insider, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. She is also a producer of the 2019 documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn?

About The Reader

(c) Robert Mitra

Marie Brenner is the author of seven books and writer at large for Vanity Fair. She has been a staff writer at The New Yorker, a contributing editor at New York, and has won numerous awards for her reporting around the world. Her exposé of the tobacco industry was the basis for the 1999 movie The Insider, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. She is also a producer of the 2019 documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn?

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (October 23, 2018)
  • Length: 384 pages
  • Runtime: 11 hours and 10 minutes
  • ISBN13: 9781508277118

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