“Jean Hatzfeld’s Machete Season, wherein the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide spoke about their crimes, was an astonishing feat of reportage and oral history. Life Laid Bare, which allows the victims to speak, is an even greater achievement—a book so elegantly wrought, so unexpected and revelatory, that it’s absolutely essential reading in understanding what happened in Rwanda, how the survivors of genocide find a way to begin again while never forgetting to bear witness. As Marie-Louise Kagoyire, one of the narrators says, ‘[S]howing our hearts to a stranger, talking about how we feel, laying bare our feelings as survivors, that shocks us beyond measure.’ ”
—DAVE EGGERS, author of What Is the What
“Of all the books I have read about the genocide in Rwanda—and I have read many good ones—Life Laid Bare is unique. Hatzfeld has a talent for letting the voices of the victims speak directly to us with no apparent mediation. These voices laid bare tell their stories in such a matter-of-fact manner that all explanatory discourses become redundant. One comes out of this harrowing and perversely fascinating book completely devastated, wondering whether this thing we call ‘human’ in us does really exist.”
—EMMANUEL DONGALA, author of Johnny Mad Dog
“Arresting firsthand accounts of the 1994 Rwandan genocide from 14 men, women, and children who survived the weeks of slaughter. As he did in Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak (2005), journalist Hatzfeld provides informative introductions to each chapter but allows his subjects to speak for themselves. The collection’s devastating power comes from the no-holds-barred narratives, with additional kudos to translator Coverdale for rendering their words in spare, haunting English.… The details may change, but for the Rwandan survivors, the memories themselves will never disappear. Hatzfeld is to be commended for helping to preserve crucial eyewitness testimony and for sharing it with what one hopes will be a very large audience.”
—Kirkus Reviews