Harold Schechter - True Crime: An American Anthology

In this smart and engrossing collection, editor Harold Schechter pastiches a dark cultural history. The 900 pages include texts ranging from trial notes to tabloid journalism to sermons. We hear from Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Jack Webb (of DRAGNET), Truman Capote, Theodore Dreiser, and other killer writers on some of America's most infamous and horrifying murder cases--the Black Dahlia, the murder of President Garfield, the Manson family murders. All of these pieces relate true events, but in many instances, these atrocities inspired great works of fiction, as well. For instance Alfred Hitchcock immortalized the goings-on of crazed Wisconsin recluse Ed Gein; here they are detailed by the author of PSYCHO, Robert Bloch. Going all the way back to the 1700s, TRUE CRIME shows Americans' historically consistent obsession with the most brutal of crimes.

Key Information
Authors		Harold Schechter
Nonfiction Category		True Crime
Professional Reviews
		Chicago Sun-Times: "If truth is stranger than fiction it is because, as Mark Twain said, fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth is not. This outstanding collection of ghastly American crimes from Puritan times down to our own day is evidence of the gruesome possibilities that Truth can get up to when it comes to one human being dispatching another--or, usually, many others."
Book Editions
		Hardcover788September 18, 2008Library of America9"(h) x 6"(w) x 2"(d), 2.2 lbs.9781598530315