kecordell's review against another edition
2.0
"A writer is someone who tells you one thing so someday he can tell his readers another thing"
"Instead of patiently working to get to know people, I'd decide that they were who I wanted them to be and discard them when they proved otherwise. This cycle of disappointment happened often. That it hadn't come close to happening with Clark - that he never diverged from my fantasies about him - should have been a sign."
"Instead of shrinking from his loopy stories, I helped him refine them by teasing out their details and nudging them toward heightened vividness. It's one of the services Nick performs for Gatsby, consolidating his fabricated self by playing the role of ideal audience."
"Instead of patiently working to get to know people, I'd decide that they were who I wanted them to be and discard them when they proved otherwise. This cycle of disappointment happened often. That it hadn't come close to happening with Clark - that he never diverged from my fantasies about him - should have been a sign."
"Instead of shrinking from his loopy stories, I helped him refine them by teasing out their details and nudging them toward heightened vividness. It's one of the services Nick performs for Gatsby, consolidating his fabricated self by playing the role of ideal audience."
anonymouslizz's review against another edition
3.0
This book is like Inventing Anna, but with murder. Or I should say, Inventing Anna is like this one, since it came first. Interesting story, but I felt like the author was trying to convince the reader that he really wasn’t a fool for believing “Clark’s” stories.
amm626's review against another edition
Book Club. I read another book about Clark Rockefeller for book club. This one was from the perspective of someone who thought he was friend's with Clark
karenchase's review against another edition
4.0
This true crime book is so far out it can only be true. Walter Kirn tells a personal story about his friendship with a pathological liar who turns out to be a murderer. Kirn meets Clark Rockefeller through neighbours who enlist Walter to take a wheelchair-bound dog from Montana to Clark, who has agreed to adopt it, and who lives in New York. From there begins an odyssey of over a decade, in which Walter is entirely beguiled by Rockefeller, a slick individual who emanates a society vibe but who is also utterly incongruous. Kirn describes several different times in which he is ready to wash his hands of Clark, only to be drawn back in by a well-placed lie from Clark. The story moves back and forth between the early years of the friendship and the proceedings as Clark (whose real name is eventually revealed) is tried for a murder that occurred over two decades earlier. The tone of the entire book is incredulous and self-chastising, as he seems barely to be able to believe how deeply he was taken in by this fraudster and criminal. Two of Kirn's other two books have been turned into films, and it isn't too much of a stretch to think this one could be too, except that Kirn might not want to give the person he knew as Clark Rockefeller that large a pedestal.
bleucaldwell's review against another edition
2.0
An interesting enough story, but I found the author's narrative to be cold and somewhat flat. It never really pulled me in,
edboies's review against another edition
3.0
Annoying, narcissistic author ruins a decent story with the previous traits. Helps if you imagine "Clark Rockefeller's" words in Robert Durst's voice.
unfinished_sentenc's review against another edition
2.0
This book was engaging and different than I anticipated. I was disappointed in repetitive nature of the storyline. As I finished the book,
I wonder why the title was chosen, Blood Will Out ?
I wonder why the title was chosen, Blood Will Out ?
mhall's review against another edition
3.0
Walter Kirn, the novelist and journalist, tells the true story of his 15-year friendship with the man he knew as Clark Rockefeller, the man who turned out to be a possibly sociopathic imposter and accused murderer. Their relationship begins when Kirn undertakes a cross-country journey from Montana to New York to deliver a paralyzed rescue dog to Clark, who he believes to be a wealthy member of the Rockefeller clan. As the story unfolds, Kirn also interrogates his own behaviors and his own experiences reinventing or stretching the truth of his own life. Riveting.
kbhenrickson's review against another edition
2.0
I had to quit on this one about 1/3 of the way through. I heard an interview with the author on Fresh Air, and the premise was interesting (author unknowingly befriends a con-man who is later revealed to be a murder), but I did not like or identify with the author or anything else in the story. The writing was also overly descriptive and focused too much on the author, whose need to be connected to some social elite group was unappealing.
mizpurplest's review against another edition
4.0
Well written, interesting, and not as disturbing as it could have been. Fascinating to read about this kind of story from the inside.