True Crime: An American Anthology (Library of America, 2008) is a magnificent achievement and a revelatory read. Editor Harold Schechter, noted for his own contributions to the literature of true crime, displays a deft hand and remarkable depth of knowledge in assembling a panorama of American crime writing dating back to the 1630 hanging of pilgrim John Billington as reported by William Bradford through the trials of the Menendez brothers and the impact on real estate as interpreted by Dominick Dunne.
Throughout, Schechter presents us with amazing writing from authors famous, forgotten and anonymous. We have a remarkable, rare, account of true crime reporting by Benjamin Franklin in a case as fresh and relevant today as it was in 1734. We accompany Nathaniel Hawthorne as he visits a wax museum, “consisting almost wholly of murderers and their victims,” that will stay with the Reader long after the book is finished. We find Abraham Lincoln relating the case of Archibald Fisher's alleged murder and the man Lincoln defended up until the trial's improbable denouement.
We encounter Cotton Mather's deliciously plummy account of infanticide in early New England and Ambrose Bierce's survey of Crime in post-Civil War California. The Table of Contents read like a Who's Who of Master Wordsmiths: Mark Twain relating the state of lawlessness in the Old West, Frank Norris observes the capture of a fugitive on the docks of New York City, Edmund Pearson on the 'Bloody Benders' of Kansas, Damon Runyan's sparkling, cynical take of the Snyder-Gray murder trial, Alexander Woollcott considers Nan Patterson, H. L. Mencken's dyspeptic views on forensic psychology, Theodore Dreiser's reflections on the Robert Allen Edwards case, a case that strongly resembled the one that inspired An American Tragedy, while the incomparable Dorothy Killgallen covers the same case with a completely different aesthetic. We have Edna Ferber covering the trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann for the kidnap-murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., Jim Thompson weighing in with Oklahoma noir and James Thurber attending the Hall-Mills trials. A.J. Liebling reports on the frenetic, cut-throat newspaper wars raging in New York at the turn of the 20th Century through the lens of the torso murder of Turkish Bath Attendant, William Gildensupper while Zora Neale Hurston absorbs the atmosphere of racial tension in Live Oak, Florida surrounding the 1952 killing of Dr. Clifford Leroy by Ruby McCollum. Jack Webb writes about the Black Dahlia in a piece that inspires a young James Ellroy whose own contribution appears later in the volume. Robert Bloch adds a touch of American Gothic with his reporting on the crimes of Wisconsin's Ed Gein and Calvin Trillin brilliantly intertwines two separate worlds when writing about a murder in Harlan County, Kentucky. Gay Talese has a look around the the former Manson Family homestead and Truman Capote refracts another angle on the Manson case with his fascinating interview with convicted killer, Bobby Beausoleil and Jimmy Breslin relates his personal involvement in the Son of Sam. Jay Robert Nash takes a look at the Lana Turner – Johnny Sompanato affair while Ann Rule represents what's current and popular in the true crime field.
We also have authors whose name may not be as well known as those presented above but, judging from the selections presented here should be. Celia Thaxter arrives first at Smutty Nose to get first-hand accounts for Atlantic Monthly. José Martà reports on the trial of assassin Charles Giteau. Elizabeth Hardwick considers the ordeal of Caryl Chessman. Miriam Allen deFord delivers a penetrating dissection of the murder of Bobby Franks by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb that would surely have risen the eminently risible hackles of H. L. Mencken, while W. T. Brannon's account of Richard Speck's murders of eight nurses in the city of Chicago remains a masterpiece of the genre.
The fifty selections chosen by Mr. Schechter each capture the unique feel of the individual eras in which the crimes occurred and together they form a fascinating overview of the progression of crime in America and, by extension, the progress of America ourselves. The quality of the work itself is represented beautifully in this perfectly proportioned book. The cover graphics are elegant and effective. The paper, including endpapers, is of high quality and pleasing to the touch. The construction of this book is impeccable and it should be noted that it was printed in The United States of America in contrast to the many shoddily bound books currently produced and imported from Communist China.
True Crime: An American Anthology is certainly the best book of its type in well over a decade. It is one of the best books I have read of any genre, period. I would highly recommend this work without any hesitation to anyone who enjoys reading about true crime, human behavior, the history of the United States or who just enjoys reading excellent selections of exceptional writing. Exceedingly well done.
True Crime: An American Anthology is available at the Owen County Public Library. Check it out!
~ Laura M. Wilkerson
Genealogy Department, OCPL
