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alivemagdolene) wrote2014-10-11 04:03 am
alivemagdolene) wrote2014-10-11 04:03 am
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Book-It 'o14! Book #45
The Fifty Books Challenge, year five! (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013) This was a secondhand find.
Title: The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars by Paul Collins
Details: Copyright 2011, Random House Inc
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover):
"On Long Island, a farmer finds a duck pond turned red with blood. On the Lower East Side, two boys playing at a pier discover a floating human torso wrapped tightly in oilcloth. Blueberry pickers near Harlem stumble upon neatly severed limbs in an overgrown ditch. Clues to a horrifying crime are turning up all over New York, but the police are baffled: There are no witnesses, no motives, no suspects.
The grisly finds that began on the afternoon of June 26, 1897, plunged detectives headlong into the era’s most baffling murder mystery. Seized upon by battling media moguls Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, the case became a publicity circus, and an unlikely trio— a hard-luck cop, a cub reporter, and an eccentric professor— all raced to solve the crime. What emerged was a sensational love triangle and an even more sensational trial. The Murder of the Century is a rollicking tale— a rich evocation of America during the Gilded Age and a colorful re-creation of the tabloid wars that forever changed newspaper journalism."
Why I Wanted to Read It: I generally am fascinated in forensic science when it comes to crime and this came highly recommended.
How I Liked It: Unlike some other Gilded Age true crime I've read, this manages not to boil down the fascinating with historical footnote (although it is extensively well-sourced) and crafts a strong and compelling narrative thread throughout.
The author's pacing falters a little in the early chapters (and the flutter of new characters could've been a little better organized before the author starts referring to them in what feels like shorthand) but it picks up and remains steady throughout.
This isn't just about a gruesome murder and landmark case. This is about the pinnacle (nadir?) of yellow journalism and making history. William Randolph Hearst is as much a character as those tried (either by the courts or by the press) and the direct effects of how this would shape the media landscape (and how it can be spotted in today's media patterns) the author manages to keep utterly fascinating.
A steady hand (and judicious editing) keeps the book (mostly) sharp, pithy, and compelling. The author's exhaustive work of sorting through extensive accounts and articles shows but we're (almost) never bogged down with information, only enlightened.
This book is fascinating for those that study true crime, sure, but also for the effect of media and its participation in the judicial system in a case that made history.
Title: The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars by Paul Collins
Details: Copyright 2011, Random House Inc
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover):
"On Long Island, a farmer finds a duck pond turned red with blood. On the Lower East Side, two boys playing at a pier discover a floating human torso wrapped tightly in oilcloth. Blueberry pickers near Harlem stumble upon neatly severed limbs in an overgrown ditch. Clues to a horrifying crime are turning up all over New York, but the police are baffled: There are no witnesses, no motives, no suspects.
The grisly finds that began on the afternoon of June 26, 1897, plunged detectives headlong into the era’s most baffling murder mystery. Seized upon by battling media moguls Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, the case became a publicity circus, and an unlikely trio— a hard-luck cop, a cub reporter, and an eccentric professor— all raced to solve the crime. What emerged was a sensational love triangle and an even more sensational trial. The Murder of the Century is a rollicking tale— a rich evocation of America during the Gilded Age and a colorful re-creation of the tabloid wars that forever changed newspaper journalism."
Why I Wanted to Read It: I generally am fascinated in forensic science when it comes to crime and this came highly recommended.
How I Liked It: Unlike some other Gilded Age true crime I've read, this manages not to boil down the fascinating with historical footnote (although it is extensively well-sourced) and crafts a strong and compelling narrative thread throughout.
The author's pacing falters a little in the early chapters (and the flutter of new characters could've been a little better organized before the author starts referring to them in what feels like shorthand) but it picks up and remains steady throughout.
This isn't just about a gruesome murder and landmark case. This is about the pinnacle (nadir?) of yellow journalism and making history. William Randolph Hearst is as much a character as those tried (either by the courts or by the press) and the direct effects of how this would shape the media landscape (and how it can be spotted in today's media patterns) the author manages to keep utterly fascinating.
A steady hand (and judicious editing) keeps the book (mostly) sharp, pithy, and compelling. The author's exhaustive work of sorting through extensive accounts and articles shows but we're (almost) never bogged down with information, only enlightened.
This book is fascinating for those that study true crime, sure, but also for the effect of media and its participation in the judicial system in a case that made history.