homework

Aside from some movies for entertainment and that art's sake, I have never been much a true crime enthusiast. I have read a very few serious books on the subject that I can probably count on one hand; Capote, Bugliosi, one about the Duke LaCrosse injustice and a couple about JonBenet Ramsey. The latter, so riddled with sensationalism that translates into misinformation, is a real yawn. Even the Ramsey's own book appears to have been so seriously edited as they were still under something called the umbrella of suspicion and all. But JonBenet case followers, so called subject matter experts and other writers draw from these publications as definitive sources of fact and authority to peddle their suspicions or theorie$, similar in nature to how real academics reference peer reviewed works. Well, except the nature of published peer reviewed articles means the infomation is challenged and vetted before it is published, not pure speculation as the media and true crime writers often dish up to average joe readers.

Reviewing Stephen Elliot's new novel, Carolyn Murphy says "Elliot’s novel is a revolutionary new form, and a tribute to real, psychologically analytic true crime novels, worthy of attention by academics and average joes alike." - -

Murder and Adderall freebase in Elliot's new novel

Posted in the examiner.com

by Carolyn Murphy

"The true crime genre of literature has been notoriously riddled with authors who rely on shocking events and shoddy research to crank out best seller books. Many of them explore, and often exploit for profit, sensational crimes with widely publicized trials, like the JonBenét Ramsey killing, the OJ Simpson and Scott Peterson trials, and the “Helter Skelter” killings and trials of the Manson Family....

This is not to say that all true crime novels are poorly written and based on speculation, with little analysis. There are plenty of decent works of literature within the genre, most notably the work of Jack Olsen, Truman Capote, granddaddy of true crime and author of the famous 1965 novel In Cold Blood, and also Norman Mailer, who was revered for his meticulous research. Authors of this caliber are rare in the market of the genre today...."[...read more]