Links in the theme

So while novelist David Peace reminds the fictionists that they really can't make this stuff up,

Author Aphrodite Jones is getting her own TV show, though I swear I read a similar notice long ago,

The Daily Beast will become a true crime publisher with a book about Amanda Knox,

There's an umpteenth online retelling of the White-Thaw-Nesbit affair,

Vanity Fair dredges up Dominick Dunne's report on the Claus von Bulow case,

True crime fans come out of the closet and reveal themselves to be otherwise respected book reviewers, in this instance Julia Keller of the Chicago Tribune,

Everybody says the book is disgusting (including me, actually) but somebody's buying it,

and a TV station did a book review (!) of a true crime paperback (!!) and the lucky author was Diane Fanning.

Comments

[Doreen]

What is the difference between the "disgusting book" that people are buying and other true crime books? I am sorry, but I did not get it.

So there are some people who say they won't buy that book and many others who did buy. What is so exceptional about that? Did those who bought the book, declare they would not buy it and so turned out to be liars? Or perhaps those who said they won't buy the book, indeed did not buy it?

Some people like true crime books. Some of those books are well written, others are not. As long as people buy such books, there will be authors earning money from it. And of course also the publishers who try to promote the books by "screaming" on the covers about sensational photographs etc.

I did not buy the "disgusting book", but I do have some true crime books in my possession. I am always interested in the backgrounds of the killers, how did they grow up, what is their family background etc. There is a lot of common ground between certain killers, but of course, each one has his (or her) very personal history.

Society still has not been able to solve the problems of violence, of abusive parents, of too early parenthood etc etc. There will always be new "true crime" ~ unfortunately. People will buy, others will profit - that's how it goes....

[laura]

The book that we're referring to had a lot of problems. I won't get into the details and won't mention the book again. I don't write negative reviews. That's because too many good books don't get reviewed at all, and too many terrific books don't get the reviews they deserve. So I try to save my energy for the good stuff.

[Fiz]

I loathe book written before the trial has even started and sometimes I think people should wait a while. There were plenty of instant O.J books, but he's not sitting nearly so pretty now, is he?

[Camille Kimball]

I'm confused. The first two links in the last item refer to a book about the Petit murders but the last part of the item is about Fanning's Casey Anthony book? What am I missing?

For the record, I've read the Anthony book and I think she did a good job of telling the story of how the players got where they are now. I don't think she convicted anybody before their time. The place where she speculated is clearly marked speculation. We got a good timeline that lead to Cindy's 911 call and so forth. For those of us not glued to the daily news, that was good information and a nice layout. I think there's room for all kinds of books in true crime, not just the "definitive" tome written ten years after an event. Some can be an index of what we know so far, without stepping on any one's rights, if done skillfully. Nothing wrong with that. And very helpful for some of us to get caught up in a weekend on a case that generates an awful lot of headlines.

Just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

[Camille Kimball]

Alright. Looking at the post in the light of day I finally get it. The last item is two separate items. Yeah, sometimes I really shouldn't be allowed out in public. Slinking off....

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