This was a great feature story even if it was outside of the norm. It was really dark while at the same time being informative about the court system in Chicago. I think the book was right when it related Myers writing in this case to Virgil leading Dante into the depths of Hell. Then again, haven't we learned that the macabre often grab the public's attention, especially murder. "The who, what,when, and, where, of each case have been answered. Only the why remains." Aren't these the things that the lead in a news story is supposed to answer? How then can these be solved definatively if things are constantly occurring over and over again?
Very good, Maddie -- the close proximity to suffering and danger is one reason why this story is so gripping. We've discussed before about how TV journalism often goes for the emotions, but here's an example showing that print journalism can compete if the writer is good enough. To do so, the journalist has to lean on the narrative techniques of literature, but as I noted in a post on Mitch's blog, modern lit and 20thC journalism actually share many common influences.
I agree that this was a good feature story and that it was informative and dark at the same time. Meyers did the job of showing who, what , when, and where in this piece. THe part with the judge was insightful and I like how she gave small snapshots of each case. IT wasn't overwhelming.