• The Autobiography of an Execution

  • By: David R. Dow
  • Narrated by: David R. Dow
  • Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (127 ratings)

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The Autobiography of an Execution  By  cover art

The Autobiography of an Execution

By: David R. Dow
Narrated by: David R. Dow
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Publisher's summary

Near the beginning of The Autobiography of an Execution, David Dow lays his cards on the table. "People think that because I am against the death penalty and don't think people should be executed, that I forgive those people for what they did. Well, it isn't my place to forgive people, and if it were, I probably wouldn't. I'm a judgmental and not very forgiving guy. Just ask my wife."

©2009 David R. Dow (P)2010 Hachette

Critic reviews

"In an argument against capital punishment, Dow's capable memoir partially gathers its steam from the emotional toll on all parties involved, especially the overworked legal aid lawyers and their desperate clients. The author, the litigation director of the Texas Defender Service and a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, respects the notion of attorney-client privilege in this handful of real-life legal outcomes, some of them quite tragic, while acknowledging executions are 'not about the attorneys,' but 'about the victims of murder and sometimes their killers.' .... Dow's book is a sobering, gripping and candid look into the death penalty." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Autobiography of an Execution

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The shortcomings of justice

I couldn't let go of this audiobook after having listened to it in a single session: non fiction that reads like a suspense novel. But apart from its ``entertainment'' value, the author makes an extremely compelling case against the death penalty as it is implemented today. Without ever boring the reader, he explains how a dangerous combination of poorly prepared / payed attorneys combined with more and more arbitrary appeal rules restrictions end up with the execution of the guilty, but also the innocent, the mentally insane etc. The real cases he reports bring the reader to tears of sadness and frustration. This should be a must read esp for everyone who supports the death penalty without really knowing how the system works!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story. Tragic reality

David Dow's memoir is not just about the death penalty; it is about a father, a husband, and a lawyer. If this were fiction, it would be a great story. But it's fact, making it all the more compelling. Of course, the book also teaches us an awfully lot about criminal justice in Texas, and what you learn is not pretty.

The narration by the author is excellent.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

What a difficult subject...

It seems like Dow isn't anti-death penalty as much as he is anti-unfairness in death penalty sentencing. He argues that poor and mentally challenged people are dis-proportionately sentenced to death and that whether or not someone is executed has more to do with their lawyer's skills (a.k.a. money) and the political environment at the moment than whether or not they are actually guilty.

He is believable.

He has quite a few smaller tirades against "lazy" judges who he claims are just in it because of who they know and who don't actually care about truth or justice. Perhaps he's right. How would we know otherwise?

I liked how he covered several cases, and provided some background into his life and history, and I didn't even mind his "family life" scenes because they sorta grounded the story in reality a bit. I didn't like all the detailed "dreams" he related though - what role do dreams play in a biography? Overall it was very informational and quite thought-provoking, regardless of your position on the death penalty.

The narration was good.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interview at end is great

This is a fascinating and eye-opening inside look into the business of execution, as well as into the life and practice of a lawyer defending death row inmates. This is some intense lawyering, let me tell you! And the details about the ins and outs of this practice - the races for appeals, the maddening frustrations, the heart-breaking losses - "justice is blind" (mostly to its own injustice) - were excellently told. The quality of Dow's writing is superb - simultaneously engaging and matter-of-fact.

But the interview in the appendix at the end was, to me, the most highly illuminating - when Dow emphasizes how lawyers - not just contract lawyers or divorce lawyers but also death row lawyers - are bound by the code of confidentiality that binds all lawyers - to take the secrets of the client-attorney relationship to the grave - for example, they cannot even talk to their spouses about how their day went.(except in the most general way, I suppose).

Getting this interview at the end of this very intense book was quite the unexpected bonus! Dow - and other death row attorneys - are most likely carrying some very weighty secrets. And for him to translate them into this engrossing, educational, heart-rending story with the ring of truth without violating confidences was quite a feat! Well done!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Deliciously Unsettling!

This book unsettled me and forced me, in a healthy way, from my nice and happy bubble. The justice system scares me and I don't know where people who are are falsely-accused of a crime get the strength to carry on! I don't know how death-penalty lawyers and cops can ever see life as "normal" since the meter for normal must get set waaaay askew! The systems seems WAY off-balance and I don't see any hope for fixing it. If I got falsely-accused of a crime, I honestly don't know if I would even be able to face my trial!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    out of 5 stars

Excellent

Compelling, thoughtful, well-written

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wish I knew what Cassie looked like…..

I really enjoyed this book. I appreciated it too. Although at times couldn’t help myself from falling into that deep well of “fu*k these guys…they’re getting just what they deserve!” more-so I found myself looking much differently at our judicial system. I mean, at this point in late 2021 haven’t we pretty much figured out that people have a problem EVERYTHING we have in place. When are we going to take something and say “now here ‘ya go! This has been running like a top for years! Perfect! Why can’t everything we do be modeled after THIS?!.” But it will never happen, society is raising way too many crybabies that think their opinion matters. You gather 50 of this losers up, give ‘em cardboard and some markers and you have yourself a protest. All that being said, which I realize had nothing to do with this book, this book was fantastic. It really did what it set out to accomplish with me. I see the death penalty in a whole new light after this. And again, guilty or not guilty. I am of the camp where I feel like 100yrs from now they’re gonna look back and think we were barbarians! BUT…..I do feel, (and I feel this way on a ton of other issues as well) that the vetting process after conviction needs to be handled very different way, much closer and under the microscope. Once that’s complete I would love to see the family of the victim be given their time with the criminal. Im down for that. In very rare cases where the stars all align right, let the process go.

The author was great. I feel he really opened his heart and threw it on the floor for all to see. He let us in in an extremely personal way at times. Self doubt, lack of courage, questioning his performance as a husband and a dad…..stuff we all do. (Well, those of us who actually give a sh*t do anyway.). That was cool to hear. He beats himself up way too much along the way. He’s obviously a stand-up guy. Really interesting story that keeps you on your toes.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

thought provoking

This story is very informative and gives you an inside look at the background behind one of the most taboo topics in America. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I would say some of the bits get to be repetitive at times. I assume David Dow is trying to drive home his point but then again that's the reason the entire book exists in the first place.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not great!

didn't like the author/narrator. Lacking personality. Sounds like he needs a class in parenting.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Worthwhile Read

First, the disclaimer - To be clear, this book offers an opinionated perspective on the death penalty. Careful scouring of the Texas death row’s historical record will leave an intuitive person skeptical as to if Dow has presented in this book all the evidence used against his client. Dow is a liberal elitist who flashes his self-imagined moral superiority, atheism, expensive wine, and lavish main courses. Frankly, he is exactly the man you’d expect to lead a rallying cry against the death penalty - admittedly unable to relate to the violent, and a life lived free from violence’s impact. He tells of being partially raised by a nanny and employing one as well. This is an author of marked privilege, and I question the broadness of his perspective and relatability.

Dow’s service to death row inmates is impeccable. He is an elite storyteller and author. He brilliantly juxtaposes the personal backdrop of this book with a gripping account of trying to save a client he believes in. This is a man who is operating in the trenches with a flaming sword in his hands. He’s fighting hard for what he believes in. I admire and respect the work Dow describes.

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