They Talked to a Stranger (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from They Talked to a Stranger This is a remarkable book by a remarkable man. Len O'Connor is a veteran Chicago reporter who, in appearance and superficial manner, seems to be modeled upon the traditions which Ben Hecht made famous thirty years ago in The Front Page. It would be hard for anyone to lie successfully to Len. But underneath the somewhat cynical exterior is a warm, compassionate and sympathetic heart. So, when he set out to interview a number of boys who were in deep trouble with society and the law, he was able to get at not merely the bare chronicle of their lives but also the deeper realities of environment, motives and aims. The boys could not fool him and they knew that basically he was on their side. He was questioning them not for headlines but for understanding. Somehow, he was able to get the boys to talk fully and frankly. The result is unique. Most studies of juvenile delinquency which I have read have been made and written from the outside. Thus, a sociologist, social worker, or criminologist will describe the case histories of the delinquents with the objectivity which an entomologist would show in studying ants or beetles. Mr. O'Connor, however, gets at the very insides of his subjects and not only describes what they did but why they did it. I started to read the proof-sheets of this book on an evening when I was exhausted by a hard wreck's work. But, reading on in fascinated horror as the sordid tragedies unfolded, I found that I could not stop. I suspect that the readers of this book will have a similar experience. The stories of these youngsters who went wrong so grievously will fill us all with sorrow and sympathy. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.