Review: The Human Scale by Michael Lista
"Murder, Mischief and Other Selected Mayhems"
As a “true crime” fan, I’m always on the lookout for new titles to read. Generally speaking, a large part of the catalogue deals with historical crimes, some committed decades, or centuries ago. Michael Lista is a true crime journalist and many of the stories in The Human Scale have appeared in Toronto Life magazine, which I subscribed to many years ago when we first moved to Toronto, back in the late 80s.
From the author’s Introduction:
“As you'll see in these stories- of the con-man who comes to believe his own lies, of the inventor who murders his investor to try to save the planet, of the promising neurosurgeon who kills the woman who loved him-there is a second order of tragedy to each crime story: the once-decent man descending into villainy. And worse: people who do their worst precisely when they think they're doing their best.”
All ten of the selected stories in The Human Scale are of recent vintage, and as a journalist, Mr. Lista does a lot of footwork behind the scenes to get a full picture of the “who what where and why” of the story. He travels to the scene of the crimes, knocks on doors in the neighbourhood, talks to victims, and even tries to have a conversation with the convicted person. One story, “Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge” even touches the author, as it concerns his alma mater, St. Michael’s College School in Toronto1, at one time notorious for its hazing rituals2.
The standout story for me is “The Odyssey” about immigrants trying to sneak across the Canada/US border at Emerson, Manitoba. Many have died trying to cross in winter, as they lack adequate clothing for the sub-zero temperatures, and even get lost as they lose direction (or get caught). Mr. Lista spends time in Emerson, getting to know the reeve (“It’s not that we don’t want refugees. It’s that we don’t want them coming across the fields, getting hurt.”) and other locals, visiting the motel where those who do get across are temporarily housed and interviewing a family who recently crossed. While “The Odyssey” contains no murders, there is the illegal aspect of people trying to enter Canada against the rules, even dying in the attempt to do so.
Not just a collection that was thrown together, but Véhicule Press has done an admirable job of including postscripts by the author to bring us up to date or inform us of how the story came about.
“People, especially at either end of the human scale, at their most devastated or their most depraved, are too magnificent to write about any other way than beautifully not because they’re good but because they’re us. These are the stories of the bad and the bereaved who taught this hack what’s good.”
And he does write beautifully. Recommended for true crime story fans.
Michael Lista’s reporting has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Slate, The Walrus and Toronto Life. He is the author of three books: the poetry volumes Bloom and The Scarborough, and Strike Anywhere, a collection of essays. He was the 2017 Margaret Laurence Fellow, a finalist for the Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism, and the winner of the 2020 National Magazine Award Gold Medals for both Investigative Reporting and Long Form Feature Writing. His story, “The Sting,” is being adapted into a television series for Apple TV+.
Publisher : Véhicule Press (May 25 2023)
Language : English
Paperback : 212 pages
ISBN-10 : 1550656201
ISBN-13 : 978-1550656206
“I despised St. Mike’s, its vision of masculinity, and the sort of “good men” the school was trying to shape us into.” (Page 159)