Conversations with the Capeman: The Untold Story of Salvador Agron

by Richard Jacoby, Hubert Selby Jr.

In the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen, 1959, a playground confrontation leaves two white youths bludgeoned to death by a gang of Puerto Rican kids. Sixteen-year-old Salvador Agron, who wore a red-lined satin cape, was charged with the murders, though no traces of blood were found on his dagger. At seventeen, Agron was the youngest person ever to be sentenced to death in the electric chair. After nearly two years in the Death House at Sing Sing Prison, a group of prominent citizens, including Eleanor Roosevelt and the governor of Puerto Rico, convinced Governor Rockefeller to commute Agron’s sentence to one of life imprisonment.
In 1973 Richard Jacoby began a voluminous, twelve-year correspondence with Agron. His Conversations with the Capeman is guaranteed to challenge deeply held notions of crime, punishment, and redemption. Salvador Agron was released from prison in 1979 and died in the Bronx in 1986 at the age of forty-two.

With a new preface

528 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a frustrating read, as the book is a bit of a mess. It's not particularly well written, and the author doesn't seem to be aware of what he's trying to accomplish. The short section dealing with Paul Simon's adaptation of Salvador Agron's life into the musical "The Capeman" comes off as needlessly petty, and is a clear axe grind. Better to have avoided the topic altogether, as it doesn't shed any light on the subject matter. Full confession- I only read this book after becoming interested in the case through Simon's music.

That being said, this is an important story. The value of the book lies in Agron's story, in understanding what he was up against (institutional racism, the systematic abuse that was and still is present in our prison systems), the value of what he achieved on a personal level, and ultimately his humanity and failure It's Agron's words (brought to us through documentation of his letters and through the titular recalled conversations) that draw the reader in, not Jacoby's. It feels a bit unfair to Jacoby to write off his part in the story, as he sacrificed a lot to help the Agron family over the years and worked tirelessly on Agron's behalf. However noble that may be, it doesn't make for a good book.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

100 pages in and I just can’t get into this. The title is Conversations with the Capeman: The Untold Story of Salvador Agron (though the subtitle appears as An Intimate Biography of Salvador Agron on the title page). However, I didn’t find the book to be conversations, a story, or a biography. There’s not really any framing at all, just a microphone handed over to Salvador Agron, with no critical or enlightening commentary from the author. I’m moved by Agron’s humanity, but fail to grasp the larger point. In the introduction, Hubert Selby Jr. repeated many times how well written the book is, but I can’t agree (nor was I impressed by this sample of Selby’s writing). Agron’s letters to the author were well written and interesting, yes. Jacoby’s writing, however, felt bland and obsequious. I absolutely have the feeling that the book gets much better, but I just can’t get myself there.

[Vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing read, it touched me so deeply. I cannot get my mind around how deeply a person can be affected the remainder of their adult life by the childhood the live. The sexual abuse Salvador encountered at the very early age from adults he trusted and the conditions he lived in as a young boy in the poorhouse certainly must have contributed to the bravado he displayed as a teenager that evening when he was arrested for a crime he did not commit.
What about that ivory handled knife?

[Paul R]

Started awhile back and got a ways through and got distracted. A pretty good book so far - I need to get back to it.