'Nobody reads true crime for good writing'

Our favorite genre regularly produces garbage along with high-quality works and occasional masterpieces. (Isn't that true of everything? Romance? Science fiction? The New York Times?) From the oft-cited if pretty stale by now In Cold Blood to you-name-your-favorite-recent-release (American Eve comes to mind), true crime runs the gamut and includes some nicely done work  - always has.

So I was mystified by a remark made by Sarah Bunting (the resident and apparently one-and-only true crime fan among the employees of National Public Radio). She remarks: "I don't read true crime for good writing, and neither does anyone else. (Fortunately, because it's in short supply). I read it because I want to learn about a given case. Ann Rule hasn't sold a bajillion books because she's such a fantastic wordsmith; her prose is mediocre at best. But she knows how to identify a juicy story, she knows how to get access to everyone involved with it, and she knows how to keep it moving."

I admire Ms. Bunting for talking about true crime on the radio and for starting a blog devoted to the genre (even if it's inaccessible),  but I read true crime for good writing, and I don't find it in short supply at all, Ann Rule aside. The comment, it seems to me, reflects Ms. Bunting's tastes within the genre. Then again I think it's a law that all true crime enthusiasts must have some modicum of disdain for stories and themes that don't interest them.

Comments

[Jean Murley]

Don't get me started on the distinctions (usually mediated by differences in social class, whether actual or perceived) between "good" and "bad" writing....honestly, you'd think these 'critics' and commentators had missed the past thirty years of literary history, as such specious declarations totally ignore the emergence of popular culture studies and the fact that those highbrow-lowbrow differences have been thoroughly undermined. Not to mention the little notion that 'good' is entirely subjective, as you point out. I get just as much pleasure (and literary analysis) from Bugliosi and Rule as I do from Mailer and Capote, and I love them all.

[Fiz]

And how many best sellers has Ms Bunting? If I pick up a book by Ann Rule, I know the light won't go out till I've finsihed it. Silly bint!

[KittyMomma]

"MEDIOCRE AT BEST?!" Ann Rule?! Sounds like the green dragon of jealousy has reared it's ugly head in the form of Ms. Bunting.

Unless she is a published author or editior of a major publisher, or a publisher of TC she needs to stick to her point and quit taking stabs at innocent people to prove her misconstrued opinion.

Personally I read TC FOR THE GREAT WRITING and I have read ALL of Ann Rules books, never heard of a book from any "Sarah Bunting" so where are her "credentials" to make such statements?! [*rolling eyes here*]

[ShaneG]

Unfortunately I find the comment true - true crime authors tend not to be scintillating - if they were they would be writing crime fiction (far more rewarding in monetary terms at least).

True crime authors are effectively historians, have any of you read a history book recently and said 'Wow - that was exciting!!'.

That said - I personally find true crime (and history) fascinating if a bit bland in the telling most of the time.

Regards,
Shane

[ShaneG]

Just to fill in the blanks ...

In the first of the 'Alex Cross' novels the major protagonist is 'Gary Soneji' who exhibits many attributes assigned to Ted Bundy (pretending to be weaker than he was, able to pass himself off as someone more important, and the ability to do this in front of people who held more authority than he did).

The film 'Summer of Sam', although driven by the events of the 'Son of Sam' murders provides an interesting story where those events are secondary and yet provide the driving force behind the movie.

There are any number of real-life crimes that have provided the basis for fictional accounts - these tend to be far more engaging than a dry interpretation of court records could ever provide.

Remember that 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote was mostly a work of fiction - he imagined what the killers were saying at the time they did their deeds and of course he anticipated what they were feeling after the fact (based on his conversations with Perry Smith).

Neither of these would be considered 'true crime' today even though the Capote novel has been brandished around as being the first 'true crime' novel and starting a new genre.

Regards,
Shane