"Jahar's World"

That's the title of the cover article by Janet Reitman in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, an in-depth look at the life of Dzhokar "Jahar" Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Marathon bombers.  It's an example of the long-form journalism that today's Rolling Stone does so well.  (It ain't all record reviews anymore.)

Sadly, all that most people know is the misguided stink that arose from the cover photo.  Some people were "offended" and, as a result, some retail outlets decided to pull the issue.  Never mind that it's an excellent article that everyone should read.  Some people just couldn't cope with the photo itself.  Never mind that it's the same photo that's already been widely circulated throughout the media.  Never mind that Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Stalin, Charles Manson, Timothy McVeigh, Sadam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and countless other bad guys have appeared on plenty of magazine covers.

"Jahar's World" is the story of a young immigrant, full of promise, but ultimately twisted and corrupted by family problems and by religious zealotry and extremism.  The link to the full story appears below.  A couple excerpts:
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Peter Payak awoke around 4 a.m. on April 19th, 2013, and saw on his TV the grainy surveillance photo of the kid -- "Suspect #2" in the Boston bombing -- walking out of the minimart.  The boy looked familiar, thought Payak, wrestling coach at Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School.  Later that morning, he received a call from his son.  The kid in the photo?  "Dad, that's Jahar."

"I knew this kid, and he was a good kid," Payak says, sadly.  "And, apparently, he's also a monster."

Jahar's father Anzor moved back to Russia in 2011.  His mother Zubeidat was arrested for shoplifting later that same year .  She skipped bail and also returned to Russia.  Jahar's two sisters were estranged and living in New Jersey.  The youngest of four, Jahar was just 17 and suddenly in the care of his older brother Tamerlan, the increasingly angry Islamic fundamentalist.

His friends would later tell the FBI that Jahar once mentioned he knew how to build bombs.  But no one seemed to take it seriously.

"People come into your life to help you, hurt you, love you and leave you, and that shapes your character and the person you were meant to be," Jahar tweeted on March 18th, 2013.

Two days later:  "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."

April 7th:  "If you have the knowledge and the inspiration, all that's left is to take action."

April 11th:  "Most of you are conditioned by the media."

The bombs went off four days later.
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Full article link:
www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/jahars-world-20130717