Reviews
Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer by Harold Schechter
jmtaylor1981's review against another edition
3.0
Not a great book but a fast read about the Bath School bombing in the early 20th. The author did a decent job explaining the event & introducing it's perpetrator & it's victims...along with several other American events/crimes.
callahomie's review against another edition
2.0
Overall, I really didn't like this at all. The novel was not at all cohesive and it just kept bouncing around with no real purpose. At one point the author spent a chunk of the book describing this guy's plane trip to Paris but it had no real affect on the tragedy that occurred. I didn't feel like this book did anything the author set out to do and I really couldn't recommend this to anyone.
tracey_s's review
3.0
At the start, this felt like reading a well researched episode of a true crime podcast - delving into the makings of a mass murderer in the early 20th century; interesting enough but somewhat surface level.
The recounting of the actual event is refreshingly dispassionate and removed (although of course, horrific).
The real interest for me comes with the social context - especially how such a horrific event (still referred to as one of the worst mass murders/school murders in US history) has been largely forgotten - it was overshadowed at the time by Charles Lindbergh's accomplishment of a non-stop flight from New York to Paris for example.
Interesting if somewhat dry true crime book.
3 stars.
The recounting of the actual event is refreshingly dispassionate and removed (although of course, horrific).
The real interest for me comes with the social context - especially how such a horrific event (still referred to as one of the worst mass murders/school murders in US history) has been largely forgotten - it was overshadowed at the time by Charles Lindbergh's accomplishment of a non-stop flight from New York to Paris for example.
Interesting if somewhat dry true crime book.
3 stars.
tracey_s's review against another edition
3.0
At the start, this felt like reading a well researched episode of a true crime podcast - delving into the makings of a mass murderer in the early 20th century; interesting enough but somewhat surface level.
The recounting of the actual event is refreshingly dispassionate and removed (although of course, horrific).
The real interest for me comes with the social context - especially how such a horrific event (still referred to as one of the worst mass murders/school murders in US history) has been largely forgotten - it was overshadowed at the time by Charles Lindbergh's accomplishment of a non-stop flight from New York to Paris for example.
Interesting if somewhat dry true crime book.
3 stars. (less)
The recounting of the actual event is refreshingly dispassionate and removed (although of course, horrific).
The real interest for me comes with the social context - especially how such a horrific event (still referred to as one of the worst mass murders/school murders in US history) has been largely forgotten - it was overshadowed at the time by Charles Lindbergh's accomplishment of a non-stop flight from New York to Paris for example.
Interesting if somewhat dry true crime book.
3 stars. (less)
bigdaddystout's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a perfect example of how to effectively write about historical true crime. I’ve read a lot of historical books and I’ve read a lot of true crime books. When the latter deals with a time before WWII, authors can easily get wrapped up in tangents by going into unnecessary detail about the time period. While some of that is necessary, it doesn’t need to take up a bunch of the book. In this case, the author doesn’t have any fluff. This book is concise and gives you the important context before launching into the crime. This is one of my favorite true crime books. I cannot say enough good things about it. It’s a quick read. If you’re interested in true crime or the advent of attacks on schools, this is a must read.